The Not So Grand Summoner
by KatSumeragi1313
Summary: Demyx survives Sora's fatal blow,and after a long chat with a certain swordsman in the Underworld,he begins to gain interest in this thing that he calls summoning...Chapter 10 up, with the arrival and shocks of Spira!
1. 1: The Fear of Man's Best Friend

Disclaimer: The concepts behind KHII and FFX (somewhat) are owned by the Church of Enix and the Lord and Master Axel. Scratch that, the Axel part is my thing.

But that's not the point. This story is about Demyx! We must read about him, pronto!

And on another note, this stuff is happening right before The World That Never Was…last-minute preparations that Sora has made could be mentioned…or featured.

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His whole body was numb for as long as he could remember. First he was sent to get Roxas back. Bad idea? Of course it was! Then they wanted him to defeat Sora because he was strong enough to. Bad idea? Well, if you die trying, of course it was! Now he couldn't open his eyes and he was having trouble breathing in this dark abyss, and he couldn't die yet, even if he was a Nobody! He was still younger than the rest of them, and there was still so much to see in the real world!

"What are **you** doing back?"

Demyx sprang awake as he gasped and looked around the empty courtyard. There was only sand and stone pillars with grass beyond on the countryside hills, and it took him a few seconds to see the muscular man standing in front of him. He remembered seeing this golden boy before; Sora had called him Hercules, son of Zeus and the one of unmatched strength, with a heart of…

"Crap," the nocturne gulped.

"Sora told me that you were the one that took the Olympus Stone and that you were the one releasing Nobodies, right?" the man with the brown curly locks asked while pulling Demyx on his feet by the front of his cloak. He cringed at the stench of the hero (the stench of a thousand bench presses, using a flying horse as his weight) and the sweat on his muscles. He remembered the times when he used to make fun of Marluxia for liking men, and had now found his perfect match.

"I…" he began "I…wasn't trying to hurt you good sir, just trying to get one of our old comrades back! Yes, exactly!"

"Aren't the members of Organization XIII supposed to be dead?" Man, that kid had said a lot to these people. And wait…he was supposed to be dead! He envisioned those last moments in Hollow Bastion, that final blow, everything! Maybe he was a ghost, he thought, but Hercules hand didn't go through him. Holy mother of Ansem, he was alive!

And soon to be dead, as Hercules was winding up to punch him in the face.

He quickly ducked and freed himself from the man's grasp and saw the punch go into the pillar, making it topple into the one to the right, then the next, and a domino effect was occurring. Demyx had to get out of there. Fast. Then he remembered: the Underworld! The exit was right across the stadium's courtyard! He dodged the falling pieces of rubble and the bolts of light coming from the hero and barely made it alive to the stairs to hell. Before Hercules could follow him, a cascade of pillar remains fell over the entrance. Even if he could lift anything…he needed a shovel.

* * *

"Note to self…don't go back there…ever _again_" the rocker panted. It wasn't incredibly dark, with the illumination of the hellish lake. So now that he was safe, where was he supposed to go? He wasn't going to stay in there, just to kick it with ghosts when he was alive! But if he was alive, he did have a few minutes, so maybe Sora overlooked a treasure chest or something.

He saw two imps alongside the lake, one blue pointy one smacking the fatter pink one on the head with a clipboard.

"Excuse me, have either of you seen a boy with a key anywhere lately?" Demyx mused.

"Yeah, **months ago**, and if he comes back, we're done for! **OW!** Pain, quit it!" the fat one replied.

"Well, Panic, even if Hades is dead, we still have a dying chance! You said 'if!' If is good!"

Demyx decided to forgo the conversation and walked down a curving path that led to whatever that Olympus Stone he stole was. So, that big flaming Hades guy was dead. Maybe he was reborn to fill the shoes of the King of Hell! No, he wasn't the type of person to send people into eternal pain and suffering. His element was water after all.

He heard footsteps. Heavy ones, like the sound of steel-toed boots and the clanging of buckles and trinkets. What if those imps were in cahoots with Sora? What if he was after him right now? Once you have a near death experience and all, you don't really need that paranoia. He raised his arm to summon a ripple of water that turned into his trusty sitar, and stood in a battle position, watching every corner of the darkness.

"Hey kid, over here," a deep and rich voice commanded. Demyx turned to the right to see where the voice came from, then turned back to see the swordsman directly in his face. He was now praying that he was Sora instead. "You must be the crybaby Organization member that couldn't put up a fight. I've hear a lot about you, Demyx."

The man was tall, about six feet, with a massive scar running through his right eye. His left arm was in a sling, leaving his crimson sleeve to blow in the ghastly wind. His sword was of an unmatched size, and probably more useful than a Claymore, he thought. Which was bad for him.

"Hey, I put up a good fight! See? I'm still alive! And…oh man, this is hard…I'm not going to hurt anyone because of this great second chance at life, sir…"

"Auron. The name is Auron" he sternly said.

"And you already know my name, so, how about we just nicely talk this over, and…um…talk." Demyx shakily said. If there was anyone to be intimidated of, it was this guy. What had he gotten himself into?

He found a nice alcove in the cavern and sat in it. He motioned for Auron to join him, but realized that probably wasn't a good idea. The samurai answered coldly with "I'm not sitting next to you."

"So…I'm guessing you're dead, so how did you end up here?"

Auron glared at him. Demyx was never good at starting conversations.

"I'd rather not talk about that yet. Tell me where **you're** from, Nobody."

"Heh, I wish I knew. Ever since I've been a Nobody I can't really remember what my life was like before…you know. I'd like to find out someday."

"A simple 'no' would have done it."

"You know, you're not very friendly, are you? Well if you won't say how you kicked the bucket, where are you from?"

Auron was beginning to get extremely irritated. Well, more irritated than he was by just looking at Demyx. This kid was insane, drugged with an overdose of cheery, and just plain annoying. But if telling him about…then would shut him up, he'd do it.

"I used to be in a place called Spira. I was the guardian of a summoner named Yuna. Happy?"

"Summoner? What's that?"

"Every so often there was an evil that destroyed parts of Spira and killed many innocent people called Sin. A summoner is someone who uses creatures called aeons to save Spira from certain doom for ten years with the faith of Yevon. As a guardian I had to protect the summoner and make sure she goes through with her pilgrimage. Does that help you?" Auron was hoping that all of the information would make his brain explode. Unfortunately it didn't.

"What do these…_aeons_…look like?" Demyx questioned. Whatever this Sin thing was, and whatever a summoner was, it sounded pretty cool. Maybe…

"It depends."

"And is this Sin in any other world besides Spiral?"

"It's Spira. And wherever there's greed there will be Sin. Why do you care so much?" Auron saw the gleam in the musician's eyes. "What the hell are you up to?"

"Put it this way," he began to pace around the rocky hall "Xemnas has enough greed to power about three worlds, so there could be a lot of Sin around…and if I pick this aeon thing up, I might be able to clear my name, not to mention travel the world to find awesome monsters…that's it! Auron, become my guardian to help save these puny worlds and to clear my name of the Organization XIII!"

Auron rested and shook his head. "You have got to be kidding me. Spira is nowhere near any of these places, and you are a complete moron. How could you defeat a Sin, even if it did exist out here?"

"Hm…I didn't think about that. We can teleport to Radiant Garden and steal that old man's gummi ship!"

"You're pathetic."

"I know, but it'll have to do for now. Come on, do you want to rot here in this waste of an Afterlife or do you want to help save a bunch of people?" He made a fake begging face with his hands clasped together and classic puppy dog eyes. What bothered the swordsman the most was that he did have a point. He had been wrong about a lot of things in his life, and maybe he shouldn't doubt the big things like this.

Or maybe he should stick with the guy just to prove him wrong. He liked that idea the most.

"If you screw this up, you're a dead man, Demyx."

"That's Grand Summoner Demyx to you!"

"…whatever." They began to regress to the court where the imps were fighting when Auron brought up another troublesome point. "How are you supposed to find aeons if they're scattered all over these worlds? A gigantic aeon detector?"

"I dunno, doesn't their presence just come naturally or something? Trust me, I bet we'll be able to find one around, you—"

In front of them sprung a large beast from the depths of the fiery pits. It was slobbering, gruesome, and quite overwhelming if you were asking yourself why it was the Hound of Baskerville with three heads. Demyx was astounded, and Auron was just pissed off.

"I could have sworn we killed this thing the first time!" he grunted. He pulled his longsword up from over his shoulder and prepared to swing at it, until Demyx raised his hand and urged him to stop.

"I'm not even sure you have enough brainpower to be a summoner. There's a giant monster in front of us. I have to kill it. We'll die if I don't. Get it?"

"Don't be too sure about that. I betcha it's an aeon!" A small lightbulb would have flashed above his head at that moment. Seconds later, it would have burned out. "You said that they were big creatures that were powerful and would lend you their power as long as you prayed to Yehvun or whatever."

"Yevon, you idiot, Yevon."

"Okay, well how do I get it to lend me its power? A spell? A chant? Come on!" the eager rocker shouted.

"A prayer. You have to use a prayer. I'm beginning to think that you aren't cut out for this." That was a lie. He _always_ thought he was never cut out for it, but showed him the prayer quickly. He bent down, then came back up with his hands in a ying and yang fashion. He wasn't going to even try to teach him the real verbal one.

Demyx walked up to Cerberus with the utmost respect one could have for it, and made the prayer, and childishly asked "Oh great aeon of Yevon, may I borrow your power to save the worlds of Sin?" The monster tilted its heads and pounced onto the rookie. Auron readied his sword and ran to him, only to find that he didn't need it again. Cerberus was simply licking Demyx, the floppy pink tongues suffocating him and drowning him in slobber. The swordsman was actually laughing at the situation.

"Auron, c'mon man, this thing is so heavy!" he gasped.

"Well, is it an aeon or not? Do you have some 'grand summoner' plan that you would like to share?"

"Throw your sword over there." He pointed to an especially dark area of the underground and made a pleading smile with his guardian.

"You really are that stupid, aren't you?"

"Trust me, I think I know how to get his attention!" He was now spitting on the ground…and it wasn't his. knowing it was a bad idea, he still threw his Masamune into the abyss. Cerberus saw the flashing metal from the corner of his eye and perked his ears up and ran to fetch it, relieving Demyx of some chest pains. He could barely stand and leaned on Auron once he wobbled to him.

"I'm not going to get my sword back, am I?"

"Of course you will! Watch this!"

The dog (if that's what you would call it) stomped back into the lighter area and dropped the sword, no dents and no rust, onto the ground. He was fully attentive to the summoner, who was attempting to pray yet again. "Oh great aeon of Yevon, may I borrow your power to save the worlds of Sin?" he proposed. Cerberus now barked happily, like a puppy given a mailman to devour, and licked Demyx's face with only its left head's tongue. It then dissolved into the air, light fragment by light fragment, until only a small piece of parchment was left. Auron left from under the nocturne's arm, and he did fall again, to pick up the paper.

"It's music. What use could this have?"

"Throw it over here and I might be able to play it." He took out his sitar again and after a few fine tunings and plucks had carried on with the sight reading. It was a deep and brooding melody, only playable on the lowest two strings, and after the last note was strummed, man's best friend appeared back. And it also leaped onto the exhausted Demyx to lick and slobber him in glee.

Auron didn't want to believe that this kid was able to sense an aeon's power just by his stupidity and optimism, but it happened. Maybe he wasn't going to be useless to this world, and maybe there was something greater in store for him. Or maybe **he** was bored enough that he would gladly become his guardian, perhaps to finish the life he had started. Dead man walking with a second wind.

"You said something about stealing a ship…you better figure out how to get it if you want to keep finding aeons" Auron smirked.

"Yeah, but, _cough cough_, can you help me with this first?"

"As long as we can drop by somewhere afterward…I think Destiny Islands was the place they said."

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Haha, the experiment's first chapter is done! In all it has a planned 12-13 chapters and will feature more characters, I promise! Like in the next chapter…

**Chapter 2: The Amateurs of Disguise**

So now that Demyx has seen his full potential, they'll have to teleport to Radiant Garden to steal a gummi ship, because teleporting just won't do for the edges of the universe! But how can they sneak past the reconstruction committee? And if they can pull that off, who are these people that Auron wants to find, and how can they be of use? Find out next time!


	2. 2: The Amateurs of Disguise

Disclaimer: KHII is not mine, for the last time Michelle! You can go harass Demyx on your own time or when he's not hiding under my bed. Now the preview for this chapter is quite misleading. Trust me, misleading. You'll like it though.

And for those that don't know, Cerberus was a GF in FFVIII. I wish I was that original.

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"I'm going to go out on a limb and say you have no idea how we're supposed to get that ship, do you?"

"Yep, no idea."

They had been hiding in the bailey for about fifteen minutes watching people walk in and out of the committee's room in the borough. From what Demyx had studied about the outside world, you needed a special keycard to get to the garage where the gummi ships were kept, and the keeper of that card was a scraggly man named Cid. Cid usually never left that house. There had to be some distraction to either get him or everyone else out of that place! And there were a lot of people in the everybody else category.

A man with a sword as big as Auron's, maybe more. A guy with a **gun** in his sword. This sweet looking girl that was easy on the eyes for the musician who always frolicked around in her pink and white frock. A hyper ninja girl with a gigantic throwing weapon, bigger than Axel's were. Yep, they were screwed.

"If you've been studying them all these times, how could you have not thought of any infiltration methods?" Auron grunted.

""If you haven't figured it out, I'm not the fighting sort of guy. Don't worry, I'm not scared for what's to come."

"Says the one who was crying over the Cheery Puppy of the Damned."

"You were going to kill it! Come on, we gotta concentrate!" He began to scope the area again, looking for a gleam of hope, when the past airship-aficionado had walked out of the building. And he was heading up the stairs to the bailey! He then pushed Auron against the cold brick wall, almost pushing him out the window, and watched Cid climb and climb. His sitar appeared in anxiousness, and he backed himself near the gate switch. Then he remembered something else.

They still had no plan.

The whistling of the Southerner grew louder and he made it to the bailey entrance. Demyx couldn't think of anything to do, so he let his intuition work for him. He swung his instrument smack into his face with a twang of the strings and the man fell unconscious. The two travelers gasped at what Demyx had done.

"You just knocked out an innocent bystander, you dolt! Now what are we going to do with him?"

"Don't worry, I think I've got an idea…no…wait…I just knocked out an innocent bystander!" he shouted, realizing his mistake. At least they got the key, he thought. The red mark from the sitar was now stamped all over his forehead and blood was leaking out of his nose. Demyx panicked some more. Maybe they could tie him down somewhere, he thought while looking at a pile of building supplies left by the construction crew. There was only some sandpaper, a can of yellow spray paint, and a chain.

Then he made a startling comparison. Cid had a very defined build. Muscular, but not as flaunted as Lexaeus, and his hair was the perfectly un-crew cut way. He glanced to Auron, with another one of his scheming smiles on his face. "Why are you looking at me that way?" Auron asked.

Demyx began removing the engineer's goggles and his necklace, then went to undressing the man from his white and grease-marked shirt. Auron's eyes widened.

"I am **not** going to dress like him you idiot. We don't even look alike."

"Sure you do!" he replied while taking off his blue baggy pants, leg by leg. "You guys have the same body structure and you can paint your hair to sneak in. It's perfect!" He threw the pile of clothing at the guardian and went to get the spray paint can.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, Auron had to say that Demyx did have some kind of gift. Even if it was meaningless to anyone's fate, it was something to be cautious about. So he removed his crimson robe and black leather pants to put on Cid's clothes. If…_they_…had seen him now, he would have to seriously consider committing suicide. But he was dead, so that was out of the question.

After that, Demyx had painted his shadowy black hair golden blonde. The smell was absolutely intoxicating, and it got to the point that his eyebrows would have to stay black for the time being.

"And remember, he talks funny, like in this movie I saw with this guy riding on a horse, and he said stuff like 'This town ain't big enough for the two of us, partner,' and 'Tell that there barkeep to pour me another pint!'" the summoner rambled. "It might take a while to adjust, but you'll be okay. Once you're down there, say that the coast is clear and I'll follow you, okay? Good luck."

"I swear, if I get caught, I'm bringing you back to the Underworld in a body bag."

"Erm…try your best?"

With that, Auron left the bailey and walked down to the headquarters in the uncomfortably tight shirt. Only a few men in Spira wore these kinds of clothes, and those men were identified by the polite term "entertainers." He saw a few Heartless sneaking on the other side of the fence, but had to act cool so he wouldn't look that fake. Technicians usually don't carry around swords, you know.

He was at the front door, ready to turn the handle, when he jumped back because someone had done it for him. A young man, maybe nineteen or twenty, with burnt sienna hair and draped in all leather had stared long and hard at the imposter, almost making Auron break a sweat. This must have been the guy with a gun in his sword, because the revolver was gleaming in the blinding sun. Finally he smiled.

"It's nice to finally see you out in the real world, Cid. What got you to get off your desk chair?" he asked.

"Um...I had to get somethin' at the synthesis shop o'er there," he tried to say, with the ridiculous accent Demyx was using. "an' I have to fix that there…gummi ship with it."

"Are you okay Cid? You seem kind of…different. How did you get that scar? And why are you wearing glasses?" Well, they were able to get the big picture, but forgot the little details. How stupid could they have been to forget about his sunglasses and th scar? Perhaps he could use a bit of bullshitting for this.

"Since I ne'er leave the house, I figured I should keep myself protected from the sun…and I got… hit by a Heartless on th' way here."

"Heartless? Where were they?" Leon asked, drawing his sword and swinging his lion pendant around his neck.

"By the…" He was drawing a blank. He almost said bailey, but Demyx was there. He glanced around and saw a bright blue and pink sign in the distance. "…ice cream."

"Okay then, I'll go check it out while you fix your ship. Good luck." And then he ran off to the false alarm. Auron sighed in relief and proceeded inside the building. It was cluttered with books and papers and he barely spotted the door with the card slot in it. He fumbled through the unfamiliar pockets and found the bright violet key. He slid it and the door swooshed open and he proceeded into the garage.

There were too many ships to count, some as small as one gil and others more grand than the one his Cid owned, back in Al-Bhed.

"The coast is clear, Demyx." he said into the emptiness. A black sludgy wormhole formed in the ground and the musician popped out of it. "What did you do with the pilot?"

"Oh, I just left him there, since it wouldn't take us long to take one of these. Wow, there's so many!" he exclaimed in awe. He was drawn to a large white one with sleek wings and lasers peeking from under them. "Falcon's Peak," he read "hey, let's take this one!"

"Isn't that a little…large?"

"Nah, it's perfect! Come on, they might figure out you're a fake!"

* * *

They had been flying in the cosmos for hours now, with the coordinates to a Destiny Islands plotted on the screen. Demyx had refused to drive because of the time he borrowed a motorcycle from the living world. That motorcycle was young and didn't deserve to die so early. He was now resting in the second command chair watching meteors barely hit the gummi. He watched as the second screen beeped with locations they were passing, and by now there had been five. It seemed so useless to pass by all these, and Auron couldn't yell at him for changing the course when he was dressing himself into his regular robe again, so he pressed a few buttons.

"_Now arriving at- Beast's Castle."_ the automated voice said.

Auron could wait to see these friends of his.

* * *

"Cid? Is that…you?"

Leon was now facing the old man, with a big smack mark on his face and his scrawny body with only underwear on. "You look…hung over. Did you get to fix the airship you wanted to? And why are your clothes missing?"

"Where are they?" he yelled. "That kid with the gee-tar and the tall guy! He hit me in the face!"

"Cid, what are you talking about? You were supposed to downstairs fixing a gummi ship and you told me a Heartless attacked you by the ice cream stand!" Leon really, really, didn't need any confusion right now.

"Doncha see what they did? The one you saw was a fake!"

"…"

"Leon! Go check on my ships while I final somethin' to cover up with!"

* * *

"You did **what?**"

"I just thought that if we kept passing all these worlds, we'd be missing aeons, you know? Don't get so mad at me!" So he had switched their direction. What was the big deal?

"We were going to backtrack, you idiot! We were going to Destiny Islands to get a few more experienced guardians, ones that I've had to travel with for days on end, and you get us sidetracked! How the hell am I going to be able to travel with you for even three days?" He looked out the window to see a rather ghastly and towering castle with a forest around it. They had landed right in front of the double doors and Demyx ran out of the ship to evade Auron's wrath. He was at the point where his hair would have fallen out in stress, if he wasn't dead.

"Why do we have to get more guardians? I already have you, right?"

"That's not the point. We need more than two people if we want to accomplish anything."

"Yeah, but I don't think you need any help. You're a better guardian that anyone I knew could have been. We'll be just fine!"

"You actually do think that, don't you?"

"Yep!"

This kid had determination, and maybe a little too much trust. Although he was honored, somewhat, that someone would think he could fend off anything that would hurt this stupid little musician. It's not like he had anything to lose, well, not life. Perhaps over time, he'd dislike him less and less. He was kind of like the sun in a way. Necessary for life, but will get in your eyes.

"Your hopes of intelligence are lost by now, aren't they?"

The foyer was dark and gloomy, with pillars lining the walkway. It would be hard not to miss the small flame on one of the velvet curtains. The went to inspect it and the flame grew larger, in the shape of a bird. It grew to an even larger size, spreading its sunshine and scarlet wings ablaze far enough to crush the walls. It reminded the guardian of the one his past summoner used to have, the pink one with the golden rings hanging off of it. He couldn't even remember its name, for Yevon's sake, because it had been so long ago. How his world has changed.

Demyx approached the phoenix and bowed to make the prayer symbol. "Oh great aeon, may I borrow your power to save this world from evil?"

"No."

Now there were two things that happened. The phoenix had gladly dissolved into a piece of parchment, like its three-headed predecessor and left music for him to play. The other thing was that a sharp object was heading straight for Demyx's heart. He didn't have enough time to move, so his guardian blocked the weapon with his sword.

"Get the music and call on someone!" he commanded. He nodded and ran through the storm to catch the music. He successfully got it and stuffed it in his pocket. Demyx then got his sitar out and began to play the beginning of Cerberus's melody, when he recognized the objects being hurled at them. They were lances, slender blue ones with the Nobody symbol crowning it. He knew those anywhere.

"Xaldin, wait! We're not trying to kill you!" Demyx went up to Auron and lowered his sword. "It's me, Demyx! You know, the Melodious Nocturne, Number IX, all that? Come on, stop hiding!"

The dragoon finally came out of hiding by turning from one of his pillar shields, his raven-haired braids, spinning with him. His cold eyes shot at them as he asked "And how did you survive that brat? Did you refuse to die like me?"

"Nah, just found a new purpose in life."

"What purpose could you have? I think if it was bothering the living hell out of every Organization XIII member, you can sit back and relax," he said with his arrogant accent. Auron even began to laugh at that.

"So even your old teammates hated you? Kid…I can't say anything now."

"So we weren't the only ones who wanted to throw him out. It's nice to know." Xaldin said to his new partner-in-hatred. "Why would someone like you be traveling with him? Lose a bet?"

"No, we're looking for aeons." Demyx said as he stuck out his tongue. "And Auron, this is Xaldin, the third in command of Organization XIII, if the rest aren't dead by now."

"I don't think I want to know what an eon is, but if it involves not hiding from a singing and dancing candlestick, I'll hear it." The two eventually explained the whole shebang on how the summoning process works, and on the Sin that probably isn't real, and Xaldin responded with what he'd call the "what have you been smoking" face.

"I think," the whirlwind said "that I'll follow you for a while, and if I can be of some service like this poor guy, I'll help. And I swear, if I must hear that damned teapot shriek 'Master! Master!' one more time, I'll drop her off the balcony." The summoner's face lit up and he wrapped his arms around his new comrade.

"Does that mean you'll be my guardian?"

"…sure, whatever."

"Yes! It's nice to have a past friend around with all of these new things coming up!" he cheered.

Demyx's expressions…they had reminded Auron of him, all the hope and kindness that was in him, even if he was one…of two…of the biggest annoyances in his life. So this new Organization fellow, he might not have been evil per say, but not trustworthy enough. They would just have to see.

* * *

Back in the Falcon Peak, Demyx was plucking away at his new music, a strong and sweet melody with trills and sixteenths, while the guardians were trying to get them out of their detour. But then again, if Demyx had been right with finding an aeon at that castle, the maybe other worlds _did_ have them, and they were just waiting to be found. Maybe this was part of…his gift. 

"Hey Demyx, come over here for a second," Auron commanded and used these words to make him feel important, or involved, either one. "There's a very important decision that needs to be made and we need your opinion."

He hopped off of his spinning chair and looked at the map up ahead. There were two paths that made a fork in the road, and a world was at each end. "Which of these paths do you think we should take?" Xaldin chimed in, hoping they weren't going to end up caught in a black hole.

"Hm…something's telling me that the right one looks nice, so I guess you could try that!"

"Alright then…thank you." He flipped the right hand switch and they zoomed to the right.

"_Now arriving at- Halloween Town_" the computer monotonously said while the three looked ahead and were all probably wondering the same thing.

Why am I flying into a pumpkin?

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Haha, there you have it! So what is Phoenix from? Well, a lot of FF games. Let's just say that. And now, for your preview announcement.

**Chapter 3: Head Stitches and Fangs**

The three horsemen are now in the frightful world of Halloween Town, where they get a new spooky wardrobe…whether they like it or not. Soon after they hear stories about the Pumpkin King, this new figure called the Princess of Fright, and a creature named Diablos! Is this devil an aeon, or is this princess really not that sweet? Find out in the fight-filled, summon-filled, mayhem-filled next installment!

And yes, there will be a fight.


	3. 3: Head Stitches and Fangs

We already know I'm too poor to own any of the bishies. You know it.

So we're now in the phase where a world will finally take two chapters. Whoopdee freaking doo. There's lots of surprises in this chapter, and I have found a new equation for scientific purposes.

Auron pissed off while being CidAuron pissed off in any world with a costume change.

And there will be lots of those XD. And to those who can't figure out Xaldin's costume (because Demyx barely has one and Auron's is obvious), you should study your anime.

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Landing on this new world was certainly a shock. Neither of the travelers had ever heard of this…Halloween…and didn't know what to expect. They were in a shadowy forest full of dead and burned trees with glimmers of possessed eyes behind them. There were hills all around them, especially the curved one that could touch the moon. Then they noticed something a little more disturbing.

They were dressed like complete idiots, as Xaldin and Auron said.

The swordsman had found that his red coat had been replaced with a long black cape and underneath was some sort of suit. And his teeth…to him, they seemed a little sharper than usual. Demyx was ranting on how scary he looked, with his deep circled eyes and his stitches in his skin and his well-torn clothing. Even his wings were tattered at best. And Xaldin just stood to the side, in a black robe and a half-mask that resembled a skull, but with red streaks on the forehead and eyes.

"Aw, but Xaldin looks the best! What are you supposed to be, anyway?" Demyx asked.

"Why should I care? We look like fools dressed like this and we're stuck in the middle of nowhere. We should be walking away from here and into a town, if there is one."

They hiked out of the forest and scaled the mountains. There were signs of civilization as they walked further, like small chambers in the shapes of pumpkins and tombstones lining paths. They could see a manor on a hillside up ahead, a quite unsettling one, but ignored it as they saw the glow of a village up ahead.

The summoner and his guardians entered the rickety gate and walked down the cobblestone gap into the town square. A huge stone fountain in the middle of it was spewing green water and not much else could be seen but the silhouettes of the buildings. They saw a slender man walk out of one of them, pacing in the square. His pinstripe suit lengthened his already ridiculously tall body, and his hands, and head…there was nothing on them. Not like bare, but nothing as in no flesh. Bones…yes.

He saw the trio in the corner of his eye and turned to greet them with his vacant eye sockets. Demyx flinched, Xaldin jumped, and Auron has gotten too used to seeing dead things.

"Welcome to Halloween Town! I'm guessing that the three of you are new around here, yes?" the skeleton asked.

"Yes we are!" Demyx joyfully replied while shaking his bony hand "and we'd like to thank you for giving us these awesome costumes for this place! I'm Demyx, and those guys are Xaldin and Auron!"

"My name is Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King! And you just look your scariest in them! We appreciate your input. So how have you been enjoying your visit here so far?"

"It's been great so far, and we really like that fountain…" That was where the others stopped listening. Demyx had an unnatural talent for small talk.

"Demyx," Auron growled "just ask him the question!"

"Oh yeah, I'm sorry!" He bent down and made the curved prayer symbol. "O great aeon, may I borrow your powers to help save these worlds of Lust?"

"Not that question, you dumbass! And it's Sin, not Lust!" the lancer said to the disgrace of Yevon. "I've barely been with you guys for two hours and I still know more than you." The Pumpkin King still had a puzzled look on his face.

"Alright, alright, I'll start over. Has there been anything strange going on lately, you know, any weird monsters or incredibly evil people walking around and killing stuff?"

"Well," Jack said, stretching his arms behind his back and looking to the ground, "I don't think you could have come at a better time. You see…" He was cut off by the screeches of a mechanical wheelchair, and a very interesting man in it. His head's cap was barely held on by nuts and bolts and he was carrying a green jar with what looked like a brain and spinal cord.

"Jack, get back inside! If you want those plans on Diablos, we need your full attention!" the doctor said .

"What's a Diablos?" the summoner pondered.

"Please, come inside, all of you. Doctor Finklestein is helping me try to get rid of Diablos…and the Princess of Fright."

* * *

Demyx is a fraidy cat, as some would say. He couldn't tolerate any of Lexaeus's horror flicks, and always hid his face in a couch pillow. But they always seemed to drift back to the screen when the killer made his appearance.

It was the same case in Doctor Finklestein's laboratory. There were contraptions, body parts, sharp objects, heads, hearts, brains, robots, cadavers, electric things that he couldn't even name, it all made his head spin and his stomach churn. At the same time, Auron was taking an interest in the collection of eyeballs he had, and Xaldin was a sadistic bastard who loved anything dead.

"Diablos is a monster controlled by this new woman who has shown up called the Princess of Fright, although we don't know her real name. The monster has unmatched strength and flies like a fire devil in the air!" Jack exclaimed as his hands waved in the air for exaggeration. "And she never shows her face, but has been causing problems in the lives of the citizens of Halloween Town, and that can't happen."

"So you want us to take care of someone who is extremely irrelevant to us and we get nothing. Wonderful. Call us back when you find an aeon." Xaldin scoffed.

"Don't you get it? Diablos could be an aeon!" Demyx raved. "He's just under a master that wants his power for evil! Then how are we supposed to save Sloth?"

"You know, you have been able to say Sin no problem up until today. Has that zombie outfit of your sucked your brain out?" Auron said while tossing a bugging red eye up and down.

"Well you get what I mean and that's all that matters! Tell us where the princess is and we'll take care of her!"

"She's in the mansion in the hillside."

A woman creaked into the lab with her trim patchwork legs and stitched-up body. She was basically a giant ragdoll, to some extent. "Jack, who are these men? Are they helping Sora or are they going to help the Princess of Fright?" Demyx shook at the mention of that key bearer's name. Why did someone that was genuinely helping destroy evil have to be with that damned savior and his pet duck and dog?

"Erm…we're not _directly_ involved with Sora, we're just…for the same cause."

"This is Sally, a very good friend of mine and one of the doctor's creations. This is Demyx, Auron, and Xaldin." Jack introduced.

"Pleased to meet you all" the hodgepodge bowed. Xaldin stood up, glanced at Sally, then to the mad scientist, then back to Sally.

"If you made her, then you are a god" he simply said, making her blush. Auron facepalmed himself.

"Your friend is flirting with a corpse, Demyx. That is truly pathetic."

"Yeah, he takes his whole smooth-talker act a little too seriously. Maybe we should leave."

* * *

In case it hasn't been mentioned, Demyx is what some people would call a fraidy cat. Sadly, that has already been mentioned.

Backtracking to the castle of the princess had been easy. It was noticeably the creepiest thing around, save for the kid with an axe in his head who they saw on the way. It was like any dark and spiky castle with gloom written all over it. There were gargoyles lining the path to the door, with wilted rose bushes lining the gargoyles. Even the stained glass windows colored pink with contorted demons on them were giving the summoner chills. And nothing made it more suspicious than the fact the door opened for them, like someone knew they were coming.

The foyer kept the ominous theme with two winding staircases and a hallway lined with pictures of people this princess wasn't even related to.

"Maybe we should split up," Auron suggested "but we might fall into traps easier that way."

"No! Don't do that!" Demyx responded. Stares met him with confusion. "I mean…so we don't get lost…yeah."

"**Oh, you should listen to him Mister! You don't know what you'll run into while you're in my castle!"**

They looked up and saw nothing of where that taunting voice came from. Surely, that must have been their target.

"**You're not going to find me in here! Try going through the hall and maybe you'll see me!"** she giggled. **"If you don't listen to me, Diablos might want to eat you. Then how are we going to use you?"**

"Should we listen to her?" Xaldin asked.

"We don't have much of a choice. It's the 'we' part that's troublesome." Demyx groaned, and motioned for his guardians to run with him through the hall. They followed, of course, damning his righteousness all the way.

Demyx was currently damning his memory. He had heard hat voice before, a lot, but the face and the name weren't popping into his head. Even if people generally disliked him, he was very good at working with them. There must have been some mental block in the castle that was making him forget!

As they ran through the everlasting hallway the paintings' eyes began to wander and the shot stares at them. Those stares turned to arrows that made the trio duck and crawl to the dying candlelight in the parlor up ahead.

They stumbled into the parlor panting and gasping for air. A set of black bars sealed them from entering the hall again, and Demyx tried to rattle them. He really didn't think this was going to be involved in the summoning process.

"**Yay, you made it to the second round! This is going to be fun!"** the Princess of Fright jovially said. **"We're going to play a game while we're here! Just get a hundred points and I'll let you meet us, okay?"**

Dark pools spread around the huddled mass and Heartless invaded the room. Hundreds of Trick Ghosts, Graveyards, Wight Knights, and Neoshadows tried to drown them. They each pulled out their weapons, which had also been modified for the new world. Demyx's sitar had become a rock and roll guitar with black flames on white. Auron's sword had been switched from the Masamune to the Spider's Kiss, one he hadn't seen for a long time. And Xaldin's lances were black with sharper edges, sort of like a key called the Oblivion, or so he had heard.

"I don't want to kill a hundred of these things!" Demyx whined as he sent water clones to take care of his eleventh and twelfth.

"Oh, and t must look like I'm having the time of my _life_!" Xaldin scowled as six lances brought his body count to twenty-eight.

"Wait….Demyx, you're the worst summoner ever! Call on an aeon to take care of them!" Auron shouted as the kiss turned his thirtieth into stone. He removed himself from most of the Heartless and strummed away at the melody of the flying fire. At the last note, Phoenix was hovering and crowing with flames.

"Phoenix, burn them all!" the summoner commanded. In the last bird call, a wave of fire spa from the phoenix's mouth and burned the enemies below it. After the monsters disappeared, it wrapped itself in its wings and reduced itself to ashes.

"**Congratulations Demyx! You won with one hundred points! Now you get to meet us in person!"**

"Wait, what do you mean? Why can't we go see you?" Auron demanded.

"**Really, Mister Swordsman, you don't think that I'd let all of you come see me, do you? That's just dangerous! I said that if you get a hundred points, you win! His aeon did all the work, didn't it?"**

The guardians eyes widened, and widened even more when they found their bodies sinking into the blackness the Heartless came from. Demyx turned around and saw them falling through, but he couldn't do anything about it. He was too late.

He clenched his fists in fury and said to the princess "Who are you really? I know I've hear that voice somewhere, but who are you!"

"**I dunno, you tell me! The door is open, you know."**

He spotted the rich oak door that led to her throne room. He took a deep breath, turned the brass doorknob, and walked straight in.

* * *

No wonder he had recognized that voice.

The room was lined with tacky striped wallpaper and velvet bloody carpet. Her throne was golden with the shapes of lost souls screaming out of it. He saw his companions dangling in bird cages above, trying to twist and cut the bars.

Behind her chair was Diablos in his full devilish glory. His muscular body and grim wings made him flinch without seeing his power. But still, nothing surprised him more than her.

She wasn't different at all. She was still in hr formal Organization cloak and still had her golden hair styled and slicked back. It was that look in her eyes though that made all the difference. They had changed from an electric blue to a dazed and hypnotized green like Axel's, except without feeling.

"Larxene…why are you—"

"It's not the time for a reunion, Demyx," she sternly said. "I can't have you disturbing our plans!"

"Larxene, what are you talking about? We were on the same team, remember?"

"No, not anymore." She fanned a set of dark steel kunai in her fingers and threw them at the musician. He dodged them all perfectly, but they swerved back to him like a boomerang and went through his backside. He screamed out in pain and fell to the ground. He looked up with desperate eyes and saw the green glow in the nymph's eyes brighten as she wickedly smiled.

"Under the orders of Oogie Boogie, you will meet your demise here!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Okay, not much of a fight scene, but you get the picture. And Diablos is of FFVIII fame.

Did you guess Xaldin's costume? He's a Hollow! You know, from Bleach. My other obsession!

Anyway, here's a preview:

**Chapter 4: Voodoo Baby**

Seeing Larxene in this state is a shock to Demyx and Xaldin, but is this really her, or has she gotten herself into a inescapable trap? And why is Oogie Boogie alive? Can the three horsemen defeat the monster inside her and get back the aeon? Find out next time!


	4. 4: Voodoo Baby

Hello friends, today we're going to see the happy world of Halloween Town and the Happy Adventures of Demyx and his happy guardians.

YEAH RIGHT!

More like, today we're going to see why Larxene has become an even crazier bitch and why Oogie is alive. That's more like it. And it seems so soon, but I have chapters stored up sometimes. 3 and 4 were written at once, but five will take longer unless I have nothing to do.

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"Under the orders of Oogie Boogie, you will meet your demise here!"

Those kunai really packed a punch. He stood up as the savage cackled in glee (and Diablos joined her) and pulled the throwing weapons out of his back. Auron and Xaldin were still rattling the cage bars and attempting to saw them with their swords and such.

"Demyx, don't go easy on her!" Xaldin commanded. "She's not the Larxene we knew! She's being controlled by someone else!"

"Quiet lancer, this isn't your fight!" She raised her arm to him and a thick layer of shadow covered his mouth, muffling his warnings. "Keep talking and I'll cover your nose next." Demyx looked wide-eyed at his companions. Auron was still hammering away at the bars with the Spider's Kiss. Larxene was annoyed.

"You think you're so dangerous with that sword of yours, but do you wanna see something really poisonous?" She waved her fingers up and down and his broadsword transformed into a cobra that wrapped its self around his legs. He froze, trying not to startle it, and certainly not anger it. But then again, he was dead. Why should it matter if he was bitten by a deadly snake? So he began to rattle the cage even more.

Demyx was stumped. He knew that was Larxene, and knew it wasn't her fault, but it would've been nice if there was an aeon that removed mind control spells or something! "Look, Larxene, just tell us what this Boogie guy wants and let them go!"

"I might as well tell you, since you're going to die anyway," she smirked. "Oogie Boogie wants to control all of Halloween Town to pay for all the times he's been shut away by that Skellington freak. And with Diablos and I at his side, he's unstoppable! Plus, I'll get to rule a nice chunk of it too!"

"Yeah, so he's gonna control all of this world just like he's using you!" Auron said from above.

"I thought I took care of you already! Hmph! Diablos, set those two free and take care of them while I concentrate on this moron." The devil obeyed and the cages dissolved. Xaldin and Auron fell down and were cornered by the dark aeon. Auron tore the shadow strip off of the lancer's mouth.

"Thanks, I guess I'll have to repay you," he sarcastically thanked.

"Then make yourself useful by helping kill off this thing!" he yelled, and the sword-snake had become his trusty Masamune again, despite being in the ridiculous vampire costume.

On the other side of the room, Demyx was still confronting the princess.

"There's no way that you'd do something like this! He tricked you into it Larxene! Please, wake up!" he screamed at her, the piercing from the kunai still throbbing on his backside.

"Come on, I'm not going to give up that easily! Why don't you just quit now and join the revolution?"

Join the revolution. That was always in his life. And every time he heard it, someone he knew got hurt.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

_They had been bothering him for hours about the same stupid question. They had been treating him like a best friend when really he was just going to be used as a pawn, just like Zexion and Lexaeus were. _

_No one cared about him._

"_Demyx, don't you understand that we need your help? You're one of the only ones that can help us!" Larxene had told him. Yeah right, that's just because he was the only lower rank member that had tried his hardest to stay out of it all. One, two, three, and seven were in their own little pool of danger, and Axel was too wound up in his losses to side with the assassin. They hadn't seen Vexen in three days and figured he was dead. And ten, well, ten never cared about anything except his financial issues._

_All he wanted to do was practice his songs. The one that made him able to slip away into nothingness while everyone else fought._

As we were, so perfect, so happy.  
They'll remember, only our smiles 'cause that's all they've seen.  
Long since dried, when we are found, are the tears in which we had drowned.  
As we were, so perfect, so happy.

_He wished they actually liked him. He liked them. _

"_Do you realize what potential you can have if you stop defending the superior and those other pompous pricks? Just quit now and join the revolution! What do you say?" Marluxia asked._

"_It's the only way for you to survive!" Larxene chimed in._

"_Come on Demyx! Join the revolution!"_

"_Join us!"_

_He sighed, and pushed them both away to get to his exit. He turned around and only said this:_

"_I've always wanted to think of you two as my friends, and if you were, then I'd do anything for you. It just hasn't been so apparent that you aren't until now." He walked out of the parlor and through the halls of Castle Oblivion. He never cried. Everyone called him a crybaby, but he never actually shed tears in front of anyone. _

_Today he did. It had never, ever been so clear that he was alone in that Organization, like a real Nobody was supposed to be. He didn't even remember his real life, like Roxas, and never had any friends. He wanted Marluxia and Larxene and anyone to truly like him for himself, but they only wanted to use him._

_It almost made him feel…guilty…when they died. _

So perfect, so happy.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

There was this anger that sprang from him with this unnatural aura that Larxene could see. He pulled out his water guitar and his eyes narrowed onto the nymph.

"You tried to hurt my guardians…my only friends…" he said as he staggered towards her. "You'd think it'd be bad enough the first time, when you all **died** on us, but **no**, you're trying to ruin my life again, and I won't let that happen!"

He was wearing a different expression by now, one that no one had ever seen in Demyx, Organization or guardian-wise. He was angry, and not "I'll forgive you tomorrow" angry, but was enraged.

Auron and Xaldin saw him while they were dodging a series of gravity orbs thrown by Diablos.

"Don't you think we should be helping him by now?" Xaldin asked as he threw another sextet of pikes at the aeon. He used another wave of black as a shield, and the weapons sunk into it. "Did you just see that? That bastard just swallowed up my lances!"

"If only we had something bigger to just turn it into a piece of paper by force!" Auron said, struggling to break Diablos's skin. "It's an aeon, so we can't kill it!"

"Oh, we need something…bigger?"

"No, we need a damn chisel and a hammer. What do you think?"

"Calm down, calm down, I have something that will knock 'em out!" Xaldin cracked his knuckles and called a few more lances, well, a few hundred maybe. They stacked onto each other and were shaped to make a giant dragon. "Maybe this will help?"

"Yeah…maybe."

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He was trying his best but neither of them were getting hit. He sent cascades and cascades of water at her, and she sent kunai after kunai, but they were just too swift! He tried a different tactic by bringing a few clones to help, but she cut through them like butter. His energy was draining quickly and he didn't think he could last much longer. But he couldn't stop! His pride wouldn't let him!

He tried to concentrate on breathing. He wasn't getting much of that in. He saw Xaldin's gigantic spear dragon fighting off Diablos, with claws out, grueling screeches, and the devil's blood on the ground.

Demyx looked back up to finish off the fight, but Larxene was nowhere to be found. His bloodshot eyes raced around the room and he began to twitch.

"Behind you, my nocturne!"

He fell right into her web when he turned around. He saw more blood, his own black Nobody blood, spraying out of his stomach. The golden kunai slid from his neck to his navel with a clean cut. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move, he couldn't think for that matter, as he fell on his back. Larxene smiled and licked off the blood at the end of the point. "I think it's about time we finish this off!"

She held the kunai like a knife and aimed right for his exposed heart. Everything was blurring around him, and he wanted to scream 'Somebody, please save me!' but it was either his health or his pride again. Larxene dove for her target when suddenly she was blocked by a certain swordsman. Auron looked down to see the fallen summoner and swung his weapon to knock the princess against the wall.

"Demyx! Demyx, you idiot, get up!" he screamed. He couldn't really figure out why he was caring. He was about to strangle the guy for roping him into this whole thing, but he got one thing out of it all.

Demyx didn't have any friends. He's so annoying because he wanted people to like him.

He needed someone that could take care of him and act like a friend to him. Even if Demyx was powerless, he'd still be trying to travel the universe with some mystery man and some ungrateful dragoon just so he wouldn't be alone anymore. That's why he wanted to become a summoner.

He wanted a guardian.

Larxene lifted herself up and fanned more projectiles in her hand. They were shining with this odd light, and sparks were flying form them. "I'm not going down so easily, Samurai. Try these Boomerang Bolts on for size!" The kunai zigged and zagged to the swordsman and shield himself. He hit every oncoming light, but there was one that circled him and by the time it stopped, it was aimed right at his heart. It was too late, even if he was just a spirit, something to the heart is always…

But it stopped midair, with a clank on the floor. He saw the nymph, trying to pull something off of her neck. It was long and round, like a giant rope, made out of water. Auron looked back to Demyx, who was now propped up onto his shaking legs.

"If I can't beat the jerk out of you, I'll just strangle him out!" he growled in pain. His body was still flinching and Larxene was coughing and gasping for air. "I'm not going down so easily either, and whoever you are Oogie Boogie, get out of her!"

After a few more seconds she collapsed and fell into sweet unconsciousness. A puff of green smoke left her lips and went in the atmosphere. Demyx smiled at his work, then a sharp surge went through his knees. He didn't want to hit the ground again, and luckily he didn't. His left arm was caught on Auron's shoulder as he was limp again. He saw his guardian's face and smiled.

"I hate having to be carried around by someone else, but—"

"That's what friends are for right?" the swordsman winked. "You tried your best, so give it a rest."

"You don't mean that…no one ever means that…" the musician said, his words drifting like the possessor. "I already know I annoy the living heck out of you, so you don't have to lie."

"I said to give it a rest, so listen to your freaking guardian!"

Demyx laughed. "Nah, I'm not too good at following directions."

_Clap…clap…clap…_

They both looked to the far corner of the room where the birdcages were smashed in and saw what looked like a flour sack mocking them. A very dirty, freaky, and hellish flour sack.

"We'll I'm glad I could catch up to see your little reunion, right boys?" he mocked while tossing a pair of neon dice in his hands. "But you knocked down my Voodoo Baby, so now you'll have to pay to the Oogie Boogie Gamblin' Man! The baddest, scariest, most frightening…what is that noise?"

Demyx's guitar had now finished a spooky melody of its own, bringing his lapdog, literally, to his aid. He just wanted to kill this thing and get it over with. His back still hurt.

"Look Cerberus, it's a new chew toy! Go get the big chew toy!"

The three-headed dog ran to the flour sack and was ready to pounce on him.

"Oh crap," the gambler said. He was now being chewed by the monster and his skin was tugged and torn. Cerberus shook his head around to tear him up even more. Holes were ripping and bugs were seeping out of him, making little screams that could barely be heard. All that was left were a few pieces of his cloth skin, not big enough to store any baking substances.

"Well, that takes care of that," Auron said.

"Yeah…but what happened to Xaldin?"

"Oh, about that…he said he could handle it."

Clearly he couldn't.

He had the paper crumpled in his hand, it was just where he was, which was in the lap of Diablos, getting smothered like a baby doll. "All I did was whistle that music and now I'm his damn kid! Why must everything you want have to act like a puppy?" the dragoon asked, infuriated.

"Hehe…I'm sorry?" Then something else rang his memory bell. "Wait a minute, Larxene!" He ran back to see the strangled not-so frightening princess and her condition. Auron was stupefied. He had just dumped all of his feelings of reject and anger onto her, an obvious catalyst of that, and now he wanted to see if her was okay? How strange.

"Larxene! Larxene! Wake up!" he said. He shook her body to awaken her, but was quickly slapped across his left cheek.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? I'm awake you idiot!" the savage nymph yelled. "Where did you come from anyway? All I can remember was some guy saying that I'd get some nice power, and then the bastard **tricks** me! And where did you come from? And who's that guy? And why is Xaldin playing house with…what _is_ that?"

"Er…that's a lot to answer!" Demyx laughed while scratching his head. "I met up with Auron when I was in the Underworld and we're going around so I can be a summoner. And we found Xaldin in a castle and he's being smothered by a summon, or aeon, right now."

"Oh…I guess that makes sense. NO, actually, it doesn't."

Auron wondered why the two didn't get along. She was as nuts as he was, maybe more.

"So what are you going to do now?" Auron asked.

"First I'll get out of this crappy world, and then I'll…I don't know."

"You could always come with us if you want!" Demyx reached his hand to the fallen ex-member. She was reluctant to take it, but gladly stood up again.

Auron was stumped yet again. She just tried to slice him open, unintentionally, and he was letting her on the Falcon Peak in an instant. How could he be so trusting?

"Do you really mean it or are you just being nice to me because I've been possessed?"

"I meant it!"

"Yay! Thank you!" she cheered and hugged Demyx, cutting off his air supply. He was just happy she was back to normal. No more crazy green glaze, just the same old blue on. "Your ship better be big, and we better not be teleporting everywhere because that'll waste a lot of energy and is there food on board? I'm starving. Xaldin, get out of Daddy's lap and hurry up!"

The guardians were left behind by the two, and had just lost five IQ points from her rambling. The swordsman laughed. "Come on, they'll leave without us. You want to get out of that costume, right?"

"Damn you, Auron! Get me off of this thing! Hey…no! Stop walking and get back here! Auron! Auron, get your ass—ah, it's no use!"

It took them twenty minutes and Cerberus to get Xaldin out of the hands of Diablos. Then it took thirty to get Auron out of the same situation.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Just to let you people know, this is a pairing-free story. But if you want to fantasize about Auron and Demyx…whatever. I probably have already. Or Demyx and Larxene, but I can't…I just CAN'T! Axel needs love from a woman sometimes, and that woman must be her…or me…

The lyrics Demyx was thinking about are from a song called "The Approaching Curve" by Rise Against. There's actually a lot of talking in it, but it's really good.

And I just wanted to say thank you for all the great reviews…I love replying to as many as I can! Plus who knows, I give away hints in them sometimes. Oh yeah, next chapter preview!

**Chapter 5: C Sharp**

The gang of four is now off to a new world full of happiness and fun and…singing! That's right, they're off to Atlantica and with new costume changes (because we all know how much Auron loves those) they'll have to make nice with the king and his daughter, or they'll be sleeping with the fishes…figuratively. Problem is, Xaldin hates singing. That's bad, very bad.

A humor chapter, for sure. Then we'll go to another longer arc, with a better world. Let's just make fun of the mermaids for this next one XD.


	5. 5: C Sharp

Disclaimer: Yada yada I don't own it. I GET IT ALREADY!

And for those who can, find the Japanese versions of "Under the Sea" and "A New Day is Dawning." It's so friggin' hilarious to hear, and Miyu Irino can sing better than Haley Joe Osmet. Thank goodness.

Another note: While working on this, I'm doing a side project, or two. Yeah, two. One is an original work, and the other is the sequel to AfTeRlIfE, for those who are interested.

**This chapter is nonsensical! I realize that! Chapter 6 will go back to a better storyline, but please read the silliness! It's not under humor for nothing!**

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"There is no way we're going to be able to land in that, you know."

They were all standing around Auron's navigation post to see the new world titled Atlantica. It wasn't so much of a world, but a gigantic ball of water. There was absolutely no land. How were they supposed to breathe underwater for who knows, maybe hours? Demyx couldn't even do that!

"Maybe there's a costume change there too!" Demyx pondered.

"I don't think running around like goblins is going to help us breathe, genius," Larxene scoffed.

"No, I mean like something to help us adapt to the surroundings!"

"Ooh, good job Demyx, you were able to squeeze in a few big words!" Xaldin teased. The lancer and the nymph began to laugh and Demyx lowered his head. Auron could see it in the reflection of the ship's window. He'd been acting differently, in a way, once they got back on the Falcon Peak. He had been offering to help with the controls, or to get Larxene something to drink, but he always had that stupid smile on his face. And he was able to have the same annoying little quirks while he did all these helpful things.

Maybe what he said had changed him for good.

"You people should listen to my ideas more often, or else Sloth will eat us all alive!"

Or maybe not.

"It's **Sin**, you moron. And I don't care if you drown, but we're finding that aeon no matter what. If you have any objections, you're staying here." He pushed the land button and parted the crowd around him. "I'm going no matter what, so get over here Demyx."

The other past Organization members looked at each other, then to the summoner and his guardian, then shrugged their shoulders. "I'm guessing Demyx has a favorite, huh?" Larxene sarcastically asked. "At least we don't have to deal with him all day. Come on, we might as well do something as interesting as this. It's not like there's something great to do in here!"

"I'm not going" Xaldin sternly said.

"If you don't go I'll have Mommy Diablos come back to haunt you." She smiled and waved to Demyx. "Hey Demyx, can we see Diablos for a second?"

"Alright, fine, I'll go! Just…don't do that. Please. Don't."

"Hehe, I knew you'd see it my way!"  
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The water was a beautiful crystal blue with just about everything swimming in it. Seaweed and anemones waved back and forth while schools of fish guided by the currents. Clams were opening and closing with pearly smiles, and a sense of joy and glee filled the sea.

That glee suddenly went away once our heroes got there.

Well, at least Demyx had been right about the wardrobe change. They were alive, breathing through the deep blue, and swimming. It was just a matter of how they were doing those things. Their whole lower bodies had been transformed into some kind of sea creature that also reflected their personalities and plain facts.

For example, Demyx was given a candy blue shark's lower half , and was hastily swimming around the irritated Auron, who was also a shark, but had red skin with a scar running down the left side.

"C'mon Auron, try swimming around a little! It's fun once you get the hang of it!" the summoner cheered.

"At least we don't look as bad as those two. I mean, really," Auron smirked.

Xaldin didn't really mind as much as he could. Instead of a shark, his legs became a set of six poison black tentacles. Demyx began to laugh at the new Octo-Xaldin, but he wrapped four of the suckers around lances and the other two around the musician's waist. He made a slight 'eep' sound and stopped laughing. And Larxene…she was a different story. Her usual antennae and slicked back blonde hair was illuminated by the streaking sunshine with her golden mermaid tail. And she was topless, save for two seashells. This is why she hated being the only female Organization member.

"You know, any normal airship would have diving gear on it, but _no_, I got stuck being a mer-slut. Wonderful."

"Well put it this way: we get to see a dolled-up Larxene and you get to stare at us without shirts all day," Demyx said, trying not to laugh at her, because if Xaldin was going to twist his torso off…

"What makes you think that I want to look at you guys all day?"

"Because you've been eyeing the red one for the past five minutes!" said a new slithering voice.

"Wh-wh-what do you…wait, who are you anyway?" She turned to see a duo of jade Moray eels snickering at the newcomers. Their buggy eyes scanned them and landed on Xaldin's six-legged body.

"You, of Ursula's kinship, of timing we have found you!" the first eels cackled.

"Yes, yes, you look strong enough to help us!" the other continued.

Xaldin gave his comrades the "what the hell is with these talking fish" look and asked them "What do you need my help for, and who is this Ursula?"

"She's our master, the Sea Witch. Yes, yes, you can get the Trident for us, yes, yes!"

"The Trident is with the king! Come with us, to summon the creature Leviathan for vengeance on the sea!"

Demyx ears perked up at the word summon. This Leviathan, it must have been an aeon! But then again, they would have to work with a witch to get to it. Witches equaled bad, and kings with tridents equaled good. He'd read enough books to remember that much on cliché villainy. "So if we get this trident for you, you'll get Levitation, correct?"

Auron sighed and smacked Demyx on the back of the head. "It's **Leviathan**. **Le-vi-a-than!**" He then whispered into his ear "Do you really think helping some other octopus freak is going to help us get the aeon or has your brain turned into a piece of kelp?"

Demyx rubbed the bump on his head. "Ahhh, you didn't have to hit me! It's called being a double-agent!" He got his payback and gripped Auron's head from the scalp and pulled his ear to his mouth. "We're not going to help anyone because we're going to keep Le-vi-a-than for ourselves while they each tackle each other!"

"Oh, now I get it!" Larxene piped up while trying to adjust her shell bra. "That's actually pretty smart, Shark Boy!"

Demyx replied with a goofy grin and a big thumbs-up. "That's why I'm the Grand Summoner!"

"Yes, yes, pardon for the lack of introductions. We are Jetsam,"

"And Flotsam!" the two eels once again said in pieces. They offered to lead the four to the Atlantica castle and Ursula's lair. Upon swimming for a half-hour, they arrived at a fork in the sea with a hand painted sign with horrible hand writing and black ink. The sign pointing left said "The Magical Kingdom of Atlantica." The one pointing right said "DO NOT GO THIS WAY! URSULA'S LAIR THIS WAY! DANGER! DANGER!" For this reason, they split into two groups. Flotsam led Xaldin and Auron to Ursula while Jetsam took Demyx and Larxene to meet the king, and to steal the Trident.

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Demyx and Larxene were beginning to think that the scariest job wasn't always the scariest job.

Atlantica was a bustling kingdom full of happy mermaids and mermen who were smiling and chatting with each other and a few stray fishes. Looming over this mini metropolis was the castle of Atlantica where the king and his many daughters resided. Flotsam had informed them on three important information bites. The first one was that he wasn't going to be able to stick around with them because everyone knew that he was Ursula's crony. The second one was that a big scene would have to be made to get that trident, and they would have to teleport to escape properly.

And third, they would have to sing.

"For the record, Demyx, you can never say that I have never taken one for the team." Larxene said, with a disturbed expression. "Either the rest of the mer-sluts have their clams on too tight, or the mermen have been left to a hollow existence because I can not see any—"

Demyx put his hand over her mouth. "Larxy! If you say something like that, they'll definitely know something's wrong with us!"

"Larxy? What is wrong with you?"

"Never mind, let's just get this over with. Even I'm getting the creeps."

They swam further away from the underwater Stepford and got to the main hall of the castle. With each paddle in, they could hear the echoes of singers and instruments, maybe a three or four voices and the shouting of a maestro. Larxene had a feeling that Demyx would be right at home in this world. Maneuvering through the halls, they got to the source of the music. There were a few fish and an octopus (obviously a cheery happy non-demented octopus) playing drums and saxophones while a bright red crustacean was shouting orders in a thick Caribbean accent. The trio of singers were hovering in giant shells and singing their hearts out with ridiculous smiles. Demyx shuddered.

"I'm beginning to think I wish I was the octopus," he gulped, then shouted to the crab "Hey there! How can we get in on the singing?"

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Xaldin and Auron were getting bored. Very bored.

This lair was filled with the souls of hundred, leading into a potion room. There were bottles upon bottles and untidy stacks of tomes on the ground. And now, this overweight woman with tentacles and thinning white hair was singing about the poor and unfortunate souls that were going to feel the wrath of this colossal sea monster.

Xaldin wasn't looking so well. His hands and new appendages were twitching in anger and he was muttering under his breath. Auron had asked him what's wrong, and got this as an answer: "I freaking hate singing. With every bone in my body, I hate singing. Music is fine, just fine, but _ridiculous _**musical numbers** just make me want to kill something. Sorry, not you."

The witch had ceased her song and began to fumble with a few bottle and took a paper from the hoard. She remained humming the whole time, which calmed the lancer down, a little. Auron wasn't having the time of his life either, but there wasn't really a perfect moment on this journey yet. Maybe there was a way to trick her into giving them some good information.

"So…Ursula, how do we know you're really going to revive Leviathan?"

"What, do I seem like a liar to you?" she asked in a husky voice.

"No, it's just…we need to trust you completely. How about you rehearse the spell, just so we know you **aren't** a liar?" It took a while for Xaldin to catch on, and eventually nodded his head in agreement. Playing double agent was getting very interesting.

She crossed her arms and huffed at them. "Fine, but only to keep you on my side." She opened the paper wad and cleared her throat, and ruptured the water with her booming voice.

"_Set upon the sapphire sea,_

_bring Hell on earth to your waters!_

_And with each fatal tide_

_become one with the sea and its new master!_

_Leviathan!_"

After finishing the spell, Auron smirked and eyed Xaldin. "We appreciate the fact we can trust you," the octo-dragoon said "but we need to check on our other friends. They're not the brightest sunfishes in the sea, so if you wouldn't mind—"

"Oh, I wouldn't mind," she replied. "Jetsam, escort them to the Atlantica palace."

So there wasn't going to be an easy getaway. Well, they'd just have to work with that. At least the spell was easy to memorize. The only problem would be feeding it to Demyx, who still couldn't spell to save his life.  
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"_Under the sea  
_

_Under the sea  
_

_When the sardine  
_

_Begin the beguine  
_

_It's music to me!_"_  
_

They were both getting the hang of this routine, Demyx more than Larxene. He took the role as the only male vocal so that the crab named Sebastian would stop singing the lyrics with his thick accent. Hell, even Larxene got over the fact that everything was freaky and was having a good time. As much as it pained him to say this, for once in her life she looked _pretty_. She'd have his head if he said it out loud, but her golden locks floating, and her swerving hips…gah! He'd die, he'd die, he'd die! Not that he had any real attachments, just looks…stop it, stop it, stop it, he though to himself.

"_What do they got? A lot of sand  
_

_We got a hot crustacean band  
_

_Each little clam here  
_

_know how to jam here  
_

_Under the sea!_"

Larxene was able to make eye contact with Demyx. She signaled that they were going to hunt for that trident once they were out of this dance number. He winked in understanding.

"_Each little slug here  
_

_Cuttin' a rug here  
_

_Under the sea  
_

_Each little snail here  
_

_Know how to wail here  
_

_That's why it's hotter  
_

_Under the water  
_

_Ya we in luck here  
_

_Down in the muck here  
_

_Under the sea!_"

The mermaid trio had cheered the two newbies on their work, and one of them approached them. She was the more chipper and talented one, with cherry red hair like Axel's and a voice like an angel. She was the one the others called Ariel, and she plainly freaked the living hell out of Larxene for saying everything was 'finny fun.'

"Demyx, Larxene, are you going to stay for another song?" she naively asked.

"No, but we thank you for the offer!" the nymph said in a oh-so-obviously mocking voice. She grabbed Demyx by the ear lobe and dragged him closer to her. "We have to go find our friends on the other side of the sea, right Demyx?"

"Y-yeah," he muttered.

"Okay then, good luck on finding you friends and have a great time in the sea!" Ariel waved, then swam back to the maestro shellfish to conduct the next song. Larxene made an evil grin and headed back to the main hall, the summoner's ear still in her grasp.

"I'm beginning to see why this witch wants to wipe these guys out," she said.

They had snooped in every room along the rocky corridor from the kitchen to the rooms of the daughters and were left to search the last one: the throne room. And lo and behold, the golden fork was leaning against a coral throne adorned with aquamarine gems. Larxene made a lip-licking motion and snatched the Trident from its place. Demyx was watching the rest of the room, thinking someone would come in and strangle them. Luckily, he made out the shape of another merman in the distance, and the silhouette of a tentacled lancer.

"I wouldn't have guessed that it would be that easy to get this thing," Auron commented at the location of the weapon.

"Easy? You think sitting through countless musical numbers with zombie mer-sluts is **easy?**" Larxene shouted at the swordsman. "Where's the spell? Where's your work? **Where's your trial and tribulation**?"

"Don't worry, we have the spell," Xaldin assured "and we've heard our fair share of…music."

"Yeah, but we still have a problem."

Everyone looked towards Demyx, who was pointing behind them. There was a muscular man with ghost white hair and a very angry look on his face. And next to him were his three daughters and Sebastian the crab.

"Oh…crap."

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"**Why didn't you tell us earlier that we were going to have to make a run for it**?" Auron yelled at Demyx. They were now swimming as fast as their fins could take them from the angry mob of mermaids, mermen, sea creatures, and last but not least, a fat octopus witch and her two eel henchmen. They had better days.

"I thought it was going to be a clean getaway!" Demyx whined. "We'll summon Lexicon in the ship, just keep swimming!"

Auron didn't even bother to correct the nocturne. They were really that screwed.

"Hehe, I've got an idea!" Larxene cheered and pulled three kunai from who-knows-where. "They'll shock on impact so if you feel a little buzz, at least our asses are safe!" She threw them directly behind her and they hit two men on the front lines and one swerved to burn Jetsam to a crisp.

The Falcon Peak was finally in view and they had packed themselves into the loading dock. The furious fish race was pounding on the windows and the doors, but without the trident or a decent spell the four were safe and had magically transformed out of their aquatic outfits.

"Note to self: never listen to Demyx's plans again," Xaldin panted as he turned on the engine and used the window wipers to swipe the screaming crab off.

"Don't worry, I don't think it could get much worse than this," Auron said, shifting the ship into gear and making it soar out of the ocean and back into the starry sky.

The rest of the mer-people below had ceased their shouting. A small fish with bright yellow and blue stripes and a chubby build had poked his head out of the crowd. "Hm…at least something got solved," he nonchalantly said.

"What could have been solved here, Flounder?" Ariel asked with shock on her face.

"We're all in harmony with Ursula because we don't want to kill her anymore, but those guys that stole the Trident and the spell."

"Oh…I guess that makes sense."

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_On the Falcon Peak, hours later: _

"Set upon the sapphire sea,"

"Set upon the sapphire sea,"

"Bring Hell on earth to your waters,"

"Bring Help on earth to your—"

"_Hell_ on earth, Hell!"

"Bring _Hell_ on earth to your waters,"

"And with each fatal tide,"

"And with each ladle tide,"

"_Fatal_!"

"Fatal tide—"

"Start over again!"

"Set upon the Hillshire sea,"

"That's it Demyx, we're fixing this tomorrow! I can't do this any more!"

"Wait, but Auron!"

"**Tomorrow!**"

"…fine. If Liberation would have saved us tonight I'm blaming you fro our deaths!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Wow. That was random. Don't flame me for this, it will get better in…

**Chapter 6: Rum, Fire, and Blitzball**

The gang has ventured to the land of pirates and Shanghai whores, Port Royal! They hear from locals about a mysterious ghost whose songs draw sailors to their deaths, and now they have to commandeer another ship to sail to it (like they haven't jacked a ship before). But not long after that, they'll be attacked by a gang of pirates! But there are two problems with these pirates. One is the name of the crew, The Aurochs. The other is this captain, who is someone we might have memorized a little too well…


	6. 6: Rum, Fire, and Blitzball

Disclaimer: Square-Enix, Disney, you must hate copyright laws right now for everything legal I have made your characters do. Too freaking bad. Millions will die if I don't continue.

**I'm sorry it's taken so long! My flash drive hates me and it took a while to get this muthaf—kin' snake off this muthatf—king' plane!**

And yes…I did go see that last weekend.

Welcome to Chapter 6. People have been wondering how long this fic is going to be. Do you want the honest answer? Alright, drum roll…………I have no idea. There.

And I'd like to thank you all for the wonderful and…intriguing reviews that you send! I love replying to as many as possible (AMAP!) Plus, some of you guys write the best stuff, I swear.

And I'd like to thank the Top Reviewers (although you **_all_** mean a lot to me :P):

**sonicchica**

**KawaiiNekoLover**

**SnuffSnuff**

**Lazy Ass Bastard**

**EverlastingOblivion**

**yuki hibiki**

**Elias Daemonwing**

Sonic and Elias have been with me since AfTeRlIfE. I love you guys so much -sobs-.

So I encourage you, leave feedback and forever be in my heart! Wow, that sounded corny.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

They didn't really fit into this world either. Big surprise. Even after Demyx suggested they go to buy the frilly and stiff clothes in the tailor's shop to look a little less suspicious, Auron replied with "If it's not mandatory like those damned fins, I'm not doing it." And once Larxene took a peek at what a corset was, she lost her lung strength by just looking at it.

Now they were sitting at a rickety wooden table in a rowdy pub where there were at least four separate drunk fights. Xaldin had ordered himself two pints of beer and was now leaning against the wall on his barstool, mumbling about how Levitation didn't look like Leviathan or Legislature or Liberation.

"Hey Xaldin, can I have a sip of that? I'm thirsty!" Demyx whined.

"I am **not** letting you have any alcohol while I'm around you. Never." Auron shook his head and scooted the pitcher to the lancer's drunken stupor.

"It's bad enough that we don't have any leads, or signals, or fateful incidents where we meet our certain allies or certain enemies according to basic storyline guidelines!" Larxene sighed. "That's it, Xaldin, I'm stealing your beer!" She snatched it from his clutches and gulped the rest of it down. "Barkeep, another one!"

They heard the cheering of a crowd of men when a surprisingly sober man hopped onto the counter of the bar. He was chubby, balding, and screaming, like almost everyone in the pub that night.

"Speak of the devil," Larxene added with a gurgle.

"The Siren, Buck, tell them about the Siren!" a tall skinny man said as he dropped his pint on the ground in sheer excitement. Larxene blinked in surprise.

"Well, didn't see that one comin'."

The balding man had hushed everyone around him. Demyx had become interested in this Siren, which he was hoping was more than just an annoying alarm that woke him up on the weekdays. He walked up from the table and mashed himself into the storyteller's audience. "Buck" was coughing out his phlegm and reading to tell all on the Siren.

"They say on the Isla de la Diosa," he said in a chilling voice "there is a woman with long flowing hair and the voice of an angel. But every time a boat gets too close to the island—"

"What? What happens?" an anxious tavern wench asked.

"Every time a boat gets too close, it crashes into the rocks and could kill the whole crew. An anyone that doesn't die on the spot is never seen again because they've been hypnotized by the Siren's beautiful songs!" Everyone had gasped at this threatening goddess, while Demyx smirked and squirmed back to his comrades at the table.

"Good news, we got a lead!" he said, throwing his arms in the air. "We need to get a ship and sail to Isla de la Diosa, or something like that."

"Amazing. You can only pronounce things in different languages but it took over sixteen hours to say Leviathan. Great. And how are we going to get a ship?" Auron demanded. He saw that glint in Demyx's eyes again. "If you're suggesting I dress up as a pirate, you're a moron."

"No, but I know someone else that would make a great distraction…" he laughed and set his eyes on the other two ex-Organization members, now clanking beer mugs against the wall. "Larxene, are you drunk already?"

"It takes me about twelve beers to get loaded and I'm only on four. Why?" she asked with gradually blushing cheeks.

"Can you pretend to be drunk?"

"Pretend? Kid, I'm the future winner of Best Drunk at an awards ceremony! I could be drunker than this guy!" she exclaimed, pointing to Xaldin, who was now…_singing_…some shanty about rum and a pirate's life. Xaldin hated himself when he was drunk.

"Good, because we're going to need your help for a little distraction!"

The H.M.S. Invincible was the largest ship in the docks that foggy night. Its decks and exteriors made of the finest oaks and pines, while below two guards were going to fall onto their faces from pure exhaustion. Both so stiff and tired in their red coats, privates McArthur and Windfellow were simply chatting about the recent events.

"And how does letting that bloody Sparrow go help our duties any?" Windfellow ranted. "We're expected to guard the ports and now we're 'ere waiting to get our throats slit!"

"Exactly! Pirates are supposed to help our jobs any! Bullocks!" McArthur agreed.

"And the governor's daughter helped 'im! What kind of world can a…what are you looking at?"

Private McArthur's unexpressive face turned to a laugh. "Look at those two up ahead! Bloody drunks!" Staggering along the path in front of them was a couple, both giggling and swerving with pints still in their hands. They were both in wet black cloaks and were singing a different tune on pirates and most of all, rum. The blonde woman was waving to the guards and whistling while the braided man…with a bright blue _bonnet_ on…kept singing and splashing himself in beer.

They approached the guards even further, who were now so backed away that one step more would send them over the pier. "Ne, soldier, you wanna have a bath with us?" Larxene asked in her best slurred voice.

"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates' life fer me!" Xaldin blurted and wrapped his arms around Private Windfellow. He shrieked and tried to push the man off of him. "Wha, never had a good pal hug ya before?"

Larxene was currently working her way onto McArthur, who was petrified when she smooched him on the lips. "Come on big boy, you've gotta be brave! You've fought off pirates and pirates!" She took her glass and poured onto his head. "Here, it'll make it better!"

She looked up and saw the true plans set in motion and tugged Xaldin off of the other soldier. "Come on you drunk bastard, our work here is done!" They were swallowed whole by a black shadow and disappeared from the guards' eyes.

"What…was that?" Windfellow stuttered.

"I…don't really know." McArthur replied, equally bewildered. They heard a loud noise behind them, where the waves were crashing and a cloth would be fluttering in the wind. They both looked back and saw the horror that was the H.M.S. Invincible leaving the dock. Screams filled the night and on board, the boozehounds teleported on board.

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"I swear, the next time you need a distraction or any other idiotic patsy, you two are doing it!" Larxene scowled as she threw Xaldin into a small cabin where he landed half on a crate and half on a chaise lounge. Demyx was attempting to read a map that was left in the cabin quarters, even if it was upside down, until Auron snatched it away from him.

"**I** am not distracting anyone again." Auron said. "After what he made me do in Radiant Garden I'll happily make you do the dirty work. We're sailing westward for maybe a few hours, so I expect that you two will help keep us on course. Demyx, o find a compass or something."

"Aye aye, captain!" he replied, saluting his guardian and ventured to the downstairs area. And then he came back up, saying there was only rum and dynamite there, and went into the other large cabin.

Larxene stayed with the self-acclaimed captain and snatched the map to flip around and see all the landmarks.

"Why are you here?" she blurted out.

"What are you talking about?"

"You had the choice to stay wherever you're from, and you certainly didn't have to get stuck with Demyx out of anyone, so why are you traveling with the Nobodies that could've destroyed the universe?"

"That's like asking why you didn't kill the flour sack so you could have Halloween Town for yourself," he coldly remarked.

"Well at least I know who those guys are! Why would some normal guy like you want to hang around the annoying little rocker, the drunk and ungrateful dragoon and someone who is asking all these questions because she obviously doesn't approve of you? Huh? Answer me!" she pouted.

Auron actually had to think about it for a minute while he balanced the ship from veering east. Sure, Demyx was possibly a talented summoner who did have a greater purpose, but anyone could have told him that. He didn't hate him, but he didn't like him either and his companions were huge eyesores. Why was he there? Not out of…pure kindness, was it?

"He reminds me of someone from my past life," was all he could say. But it was true. Demyx had an air about him just like…him. Extremely determined, optimistic, annoying, and had no idea where he really stood in the world.

Just like Tidus was.

"And you don't have any suspicions whatsoever?"

"About what? The three of you are practically harmless," he scoffed.

"Sure, whatever. Just don't say anything about not having hearts around Demyx or he might have yours. That _was_ what he wanted after all!" she sighed.

"What does that mean? Did he—" Auron stopped himself when Demyx walked back on deck.

The musician ran from the cabin, clutching a leather compass box with golden edges.

"You should see what they have in there! There's really nice furniture, a bunch of books, and even a whole roasted pig in there! You've gotta take a break to check it out! And Xaldin is sleeping on the long chair thing right now, so don't worry about him."

"Eh? A whole pig! Screw this navigation, I'm going inside!" Larxene cheered as she went to eat dinner. Demyx took up the map so carelessly thrown on the floor and turned it right side up this time. Auron was still trying to figure out what she meant by "he'd have yours." The kid was a horrible fighter, and too big of a dimwit to cause anyone harm, but had he actually…

"Demyx, may ask you a question?"

"Sure Captain, whaddaya need?" he joyfully replied. No, he was just too happy. Unless it was all some act…maybe it was a myth. No heartless creature could act like him. But what if…

"You won't get mad if I do?"

"Yeah, whatever, just say it!"

"Do Nobodies have hearts or not?"

Demyx froze. His head hung lower and he tried to plaster another smile on his face. "O-of c-course we do…I-it's just th-that…" His fingers twitched as his hands crushed the map's edges and his nails tore through the delicate paper. "We just…" he tried to continue, but he was remembering them again. Those things just kept flashing in his mind, over and over! Why, why were these things coming back to him after so long? What did he ever do?

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"_Demyx, this has gone out of hand!"_

"_You'll keep hurting yourself if this happens! Stop it for your own good!"_

"_It doesn't have to be like this!"_

"_**If I can't have a heart, then why should anyone else? Answer THAT, why don't you?"**_

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"No…" he whimpered as those memories flooded his mind. That image of him, one that was so unlike himself, so contorted and ugly that filled himself with disgust. That rage that he didn't want to come back made his breathing go out of sync and his head throb in pain. The fires around his world that was slowly crumbling. That desire that couldn't be granted, no matter how hard he tried.

Larxene was right. Any more an his undead heart would be dripping on the plywood.

"Forget that I asked," the guardian finally said. "It's obviously something that hurts you, so just forget it." It made him feel bad even, to toy with his emotions.

"Thanks," Demyx wheezed as he tried to get himself back. "I don't think I could talk about it right now." He looked up with aqua eyes almost to the brink of tears and that ridiculous grin was on him again. That was the other thing that bothered Auron. No heartless could feel pain. There must be something to it. He had no friends, no memories of his other life, and a screwed past.

_What a blessing to have Sir Auron at his side_, Auron sarcastically thought.

Something caught his eye one the horizon. Another boat, just as big as theirs, was heading in the opposite direction. Another detail caught his eye, near the mainsail. A black flag waved in a phantom wind, with a skull and crossbones. The drawing had a unique style to it, like one that he had seen on a tourist's shirt in Luca. Why would something like that be around here?

"Auron, Demyx, this isn't good!" they heard Larxene shout from the cabin with cheeks stuffed with swine. She came out with a chunk in her hand and wide eyes. She swallowed, then continued. "That's a pirate ship you numb nuts! Steer away!"

"What would they want with us? I don't see any danger." Auron coldly retorted.

"No, no, you don't understand. I saw them loading up cannons and lighting barrels on fire from the cabin. They want our boat."

If there was an animal called the sea cricket, it would be chirping.

"What are we supposed to do!" Demyx panicked.

"Calm down halfwit, I've got an idea."

"Yeah, like steering away from the boat!" Larxene shouted at the swordsman.

"No, we'll work this out."

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Apparently, fighting an army of over a hundred well-trained hijacking pirates wasn't such a good idea.

The four were brought into the H.M.S. Invincible's large cabin and were tied to each other by the waist and their hands tied together with thick and splintery rope. Xaldin was awake by now, and extremely hung over.

"What the hell is going on? Don't tell me I drank that much," he groaned.

"Quiet you!" one of the slimy pirates commanded him. "Th' captain wants to see you now!"

They focused their attention to a chair turned backwards behind the desk where Demyx found the compass. Not a single hair stuck out from the chair, and he greeted them with a smooth, deep voice that obviously wanted nothing more than to taunt them.

"By now you must be asking yourselves, 'why do these strange pirates want our ship, where are we heading, an most importantly, who are you?' Well let me start off with the first two and a half. Just call my little gang of mischief makers and thieves the Aurochs for now!"

"_What_?" Auron yelled. No. No. Aurochs in another world completely out of range. No.

"I said the Aurochs, you crazy old man!" the captain shouted back.

"Look, I'm sorry, but if I have to spell it out for you…I don't know."

"What does the word 'Auroch' have to do with anything here?" Auron still asked, frustrated.

"Alright, you obviously don't get it, so here: A-U-R, O-C-H-S! Got it memorized?"

The three Nobodies glanced to each other. No sane pirate would have such a uncouth catchphrase and such an unusual accent, so there was no way they didn't know who he was.

"Axel?" Larxene asked.

"What?" he said, turning his chair thinking a crew member mused him. How wrong he was, in seeing his three past co-workers tied with the irritable man.

"No way, how did you make it out alive? I thought I was the only one!" he smiled. Axel was a very unique Nobody. Even if he hated almost all of Organization XIII, he would still be nice to you. Besides, the only ones Axel truly despised were Xemnas, Xigbar, Saïx and Marluxia, and…okay, everyone except Roxas, occasionally Demyx and occasionally Larxene. And he, like the rest of them, didn't bother to change his fiery red mane and his black cloak. "So tell me, how did you guys end up here?"

"Um, believe it or not, it'd kind of help if you **untied us**!" Larxene screeched.

"Oh yeah, sorry about that! My first mate thought that this ship would take us to Isla de la Diosa faster, so it wasn't my call." Demyx went wide-eyed at the name of the island. Axel took out his small knife and cut the ropes loose. They sagged off of them and the four were able to stand up and discuss…business.

"Did you say the Isla de la Diosa? That's where the Siren is!" Demyx exclaimed.

"No way, you're on the hunt for it too? What for?"

"It's an aeon!"

"A whoza-whatsit? What have you been doing this whole time?" Axel questioned as he reached for the pipe that sent messages to the lower decks. "You know, I don't even know what it is, but it sounds pricy. Tell you what; my partner in crime knows more about it than I do. Otherwise, tell me what I've missed. WAKKA, GET IN THE MAIN CABIN NOW OR I'LL SWITCH YOU TO DECK SWABBING!" he cried into the communicator.

Auron was now in a state of shock. Luca skull, Aurochs, everything connected! But why the hell was that moron plundering ships and helping a Nobody? Maybe it was a coincidence. Meanwhile Demyx was explaining the summoning and aeon necessities, misspelling Sin which had become Shins.

"And you think the Siren can bring magical whatever to all of us. Sure, sure, I believe you. And you hooked those three into it?"

"I didn't hook them in, they followed us! Me and Auron, that is. Xaldin was stalking that furry thing and the princess and Larxene was getting her brains eaten out by a sack full of bugs!" the summoner pouted. Axel chuckled at the thought of his comrades getting rescued by Demyx of all people, and this little world of giant creatures that will eat you in a split second if you haven't mastered them.

"Kid, it's nice to know you've got something to do now!" he assured, ruffling his sandy blonde hair into a mohawk mess. He grabbed the loudspeaker again. "WAKKA, I SAID GET IN HERE!"

"I'm here, I'm here!"

Through the door a redheaded pirate came through with a barrel from the lower decks. His hair was a fire orange that stood on end like Demyx's with a blue bandana tied around it. His whole left arm was covered in bracers and bands and he was dressed in bright yellow pants and what could barely be called an orange tank. He also had a muscular build, barely greater than Auron's, and a well-done tan. That tan faded away when he saw his past co-guardian in shock.

"Oh crap," was all he could utter at Auron's sight.

"Wakka, what the **hell ** are you doing around here?" the swordsman roared at first mate Wakka. "You're supposed to be on some stupid island looking over the blonde moron! Can I leave nothing to you people?"

"Look, look, you the Heartless, ya? Well they tore apart the islands and once we were able to go back, I tried to keep everything chill with blitzball, but I couldn't do it!" he said, sweating. "I thought you passed on anyway! Is this my punishment for leaving, hauntings?"

"He's not haunting anybody!" Demyx said as he came between the two men. "He's helping me become a summoner, thank you very much!"

"A…you don't mean that he's—"

"Sadly, he can find them everywhere. Obligations are a pain."

Wakka paused and crossed his arms. "Well I'm not going through another pilgrimage after that last one, so why should we be worried if there's no Sin?"

"That's what I want to know!" Axel cheered, jumping onto the desk. "Look, this pirating thing, it's not good for me. I'll make you a deal: find us that Siren and I might just join for good, got it memorized? I say we think it over dinner and we find her before the other pirates do!"

"Aye aye, Captain Axel!" Larxene saluted. Xaldin gave a half-hearted sarcastic salute, then continued to clutch his head.

"But Captain," stuttered Wakka.

"Oh, just steer if you're not going to have dinner. We don't want _them_ getting ahead of us!"

"Who's them?" Demyx questioned.

"Ah, just some other pirate crew that's after Siren. Their pretty good, but we need to be ahead of them, you know? That Jack Sparrow nutcase can't beat me this time!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Nothing to say. Just read the preview.

**Chapter 7: Mesmerize**

The hunt is on for Siren! Why would the infamous Jack Sparrow want this aeon, and will he fight our anti-heroes for it? If Wakka's mind is set on staying in Port Royal, does that mean Axel will stay too? And with his past haunting Demyx, can Auron find some way to figure out what he has done? Find out next time!

PS: Wakka actually has his mind EXTRA set. He's not joining. Four's company, five's a decent summoning party, and six is just a pain in the ass for a writer. So there.


	7. 7: Mesmerize

Disclaimer: Yuna can no longer yell at me for finding a new summoner. Square Enix doesn't care about you.

I love Turks. I hate VII, but I love the Turks. Larxene could possibly be Elena, if not for the R in her name. And for some reason Xaldin reminds me of Tseng. It's dumb, but he does. And of course, Axel is would-be Reno. Duh.

**One last thing: My chapter update might get a little slower from now on because of school. Just expect one once every week or so. School will become the icing on my hell cake :P.**

**If anyone asks why my updates are slow, they're getting a sitar in the ass. Just thought I'd let you know.**

And thanks to **sonicchica**! I lied, your idea rocks. That's why I wanted to surprise you.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Seeing him there made him incredibly uneasy, like a calm before the storm. Hopefully there weren't calms anywhere else except Spira. Wakka sat nervously amongst the other five around the dinner table in an opposite cabin where the meats and delicacies were lain from the cargo ship the Aurochs had pillaged earlier. In his life, one remote thing always lead to something worse. Machina. Chappu. Sin. Tidus. The worst guardian ever in the fact that he'd gone to pirate instead of watching over him. If this kid, who had already found four aeons across the universe had received this gift because he had some place in destiny, there was only one important thing.

Sin was real. Sin was somewhere around them. Sin was immortal.

"So you just screwed them both over? That's classic!" Axel howled at the quartet's mishaps in Atlantica. "Man, I wish you guys picked me up earlier!"

"No you don't! These guys are always complaining!" Demyx whined as he reached for another piece of salmon. "Auron hits me on the head if I can't say an aeon right and Xaldin acts like a grumpy old man, and Larxene…she's Larxene!" He received a pig's foot to the noggin after the last comment.

"It doesn't seem like you have anything nice to say about them, do you?"

"No, I do, it's just…Auron is the only one that listens to me." Wakka smiled. For once Big Bad Auron wasn't the stoic and simple guy he was then. What a nice surprise.

"How about this: I'll listen to you a little more than half as much as him, but still lots more than Larxene and Grumpy, okay?" Axel proposed.

"**Stop making us look like the bad guys!**" The other Nobodies shouted simultaneously.

"And why have you been so quiet lately?" Auron asked the blitzball star. His menacing eyes shone from under his glasses, a look that said "you think it's back too, huh?" Wakka nodded, and that was the end of that. But he was acting a little too suspicious for his own sake.

"Hey Captain, I'm gonna go check on the steering, ya?" he said, excusing himself from awkwardness once more. Auron watched him turn the doorknob to the deck above and stood from the fancy oak (and stolen) dining set.

"I don't need a reason for my actions," he simply said.

He sat against the starboard of the Invincible and watched a star's aimless blinking until it drowned in the night sky. Finally, peace. New beginnings, perhaps. Then their party had to show up and even if they were finding aeons without the intention…no, there must have been something behind it! He stopped worrying once he heard Auron's heavy phantom footsteps.

"I wasn't going to say 'stop acting like a killjoy and let the kid get to know you,' but obviously this is getting to you, isn't it?" he coldly asked.

"Auron, if there is a Sin, how are we supposed to stop it? With all these worlds linked together now, who knows how much stronger it's gotten, and—"

"Will you shut up for a minute?"

Wakka smacked himself on the forehead. "Yeah, I guess it just shook me up too badly, ya? I mean, how long has it been?"

"Probably more than ten, less than twenty, who cares. Demyx says a 'Xemnas' is evil enough to power three Sins, but somehow I doubt that it will matter."

"And why do you think that?"

"Because the kid has enough determination to kill off ten," he smirked. "He's a lot like Tidus. You'd get along splendidly, unfortunately for me."

"That's why I'm going back to Destiny Islands." Auron raised his brow.

"Just because I yelled at you doesn't mean you have to always listen."

"No, no, I mean it! He's not exactly one to make the right decisions by himself, ya? And ever since we left Spira…why did we anyway? What's wrong with us?"

"Because we're too irresponsible to handle the truth, so we moved on. Even Tidus." Auron said with remorse. The wind had fluttered in the air and the both of them couldn't talk.

"Look ya, I'll go back once we find the Siren, otherwise I have to help steer. Just… don't be wasting your time, okay?"

"_Tch_, whatever you want."

------------------------------------------------------------------

"So who is this Bird guy you were talking about earlier?" Larxene asked with another piece of pork lodged in her mouth.

"Well, he's freaking nuts, if that's what you mean," Axel replied. "Like, he does this weird shaking thing and he always makes sure everything's 'savvy.' And the guy always beats me to any treasures left because he needs them to make deals!"

"What kind of deals?" Demyx asked like an eager little boy listening to a story from his grandpa.

"Deals with the worst kind of guys in the sea! Like a man who looks like an octopus!"

"Xaldin used to look like an octopus!" Demyx pointed, then laughed. Xaldin grumbled and smacked him on the head.

"It was for less than a day, and it's Larxene's fault!"

"Alright, alright! We've got a big night tonight, so I'm going to stay on deck. I advise that you get a good night's sleep before we get to the island." Axel got up from his chair and began walking to the door. "We'll probably get there at six a.m. Six," he flashed six fingers "got it memorized?"

"And you complain about other people's catchphrases, you hypocrite!" Larxene scoffed.

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Wakka had left Auron to help his captain and now he went to the makeshift sleeping quarters, but something didn't seem right. He saw Demyx perched on the deck near the steering wheel, with a glum and depressing face.

_So let me guess this straight, I had to explain my motives to a Nobody, cheer up an idiotic blitzball player, and now whatever is wrong with him_, he thought. _ What a horrible night._

Demyx saw him walking up the steps and hid himself in his arms. He turned around, expression anew, and came smiling and brimming with fake joy. "Stop looking like a moron and wipe that smirk off your face. I saw you moaning from over there," his guardian said.

The musician did what he was told, but seemed worse than before. He looked like he was going to cry again, and his hands could have broken the railing if he tried. "I'm sorry, but I just feel bad for not answering your question earlier. Even if I can't answer, I don't like ducking out of—"

"Will you wring your eyes out and just say what you have to say?"

"Why can't you ever be nice about anything? And you have to promise not to make fun of me!"

"Fine, just don't cry or I'll hit you."

"Okay, here," he began as he cleared his throat. "It was back when there was only ten of us, at the Organization. I never wanted to believe that Nobodies were just shells of beings, and so I'm not really the person I was back then, you know?"

"What did you do?"

"Let me get to it! So…I used to act out more, and try to prove that we do have hearts, but every time I did Xemnas just said they were…'artificial feelings.' I didn't want to hear that so…I used to do things that would hurt a lot of others. Like…I flooded a whole city and cut the gas pipes so it would set on fire."

After hearing something like that…making fun of it wasn't the correct choice of words. This was insanity, and Auron couldn't hide it in his face. Demyx, the innocent happy-go-lucky kid who had burned down a city to show his rage. And he could hide it fairly well, with that big smile of his.

How much did it hurt him to smile every time his heart wrenched at those memories?

"I only did it to show I was angry. But after seeing it all…I just felt so helpless, and that I couldn't change any. I never wanted to be a killer…but everything just got really tough for me…if I had a heart it was pretty much wasted and shriveled up by then. So I decided that if I pretend to be happy, maybe I'll just stay that way."

"Why do you think I would make fun of you for that?" Auron said, his voice rising with annoyance. "That isn't something that you can say so lightly! You killed thousands of people and now you're trying to live the rest of your life with a happy face when you feel like shit inside! No wonder you need someone to watch over you!"

Demyx fell silent and his head hung down. "I guess you don't want to be my guardian anymore, right?"

The swordsman sighed. "No, it's not that, it's just that if you feel like crying your eyes out then just do it so I won't have to deal with any pent-up rage later." Demyx already knew that this was his way of saying 'I don't want you to be in pain anymore, so do what must be done.'

"Thanks, then," he smiled.

"Is that one fake?"

"No, it's not! I'm just…surprised you listened to that. I mean…"

"No one does?"

"Yeah…" They drifted off into silence again. Well, it just seemed right that no one talked. It was the peace they needed.

"Go to bed."

"Why, you're not my dad, you're my guardian!" the summoner whined.

"Exactly. I'm looking out for your best options and if you doze off while asking for its power then would I be doing my job? No. Go to bed." Demyx happily walked down to the cabins to catch up on forty winks. Auron remained on the Invincible's breezy balcony and sighed. Great, there might as well have been a checklist for all the things he had to do. And now there was even more on it. He wasn't a babysitter or a guidance counselor, he was just a guardian! Well, maybe those things were part of the job. Yuna never needed extreme counseling, except the marriage fiasco…he shuddered at that thought.

**Auron's Checklist** (or the one he wrote mentally):

( ) Find the aeons

( ) If there is a Sin, kill it

( ) Keep Demyx's companions from doing anything too stupid

( ) Keep Demyx from having an emotional breakdown

( ) Keep your sanity, Auron

He needed sleep too. Damn the pirates.

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The summoner and his guardians woke up to another gigantic feast from the stolen goods, and apparently Second Mate Locke was an incredibly good chef. Demyx was shoving pancakes down his throat and drowning in syrup and Larxene was fighting with Axel over the last croissant. Xaldin chuckled as he stabbed at his bacon. Wakka was in a better mood and was laughing at the croissant duel and Auron had nothing to say except he was thinking "I'm failing everything on that checklist right now."

Another one of Axel's scoundrel crew mates had ran into the cabin with a flash. "Captain! We've made it to Isla de la Diosa! Hurry your breakfast and prepare for docking on the north side!"

"Good job Edgar! do you have your earplugs in?"

"WHAT?" the pirate screamed back, which was basically 'yes.'

"Why is he wearing earplugs?" Xaldin asked.

"The Siren is notorious for songs that hypnotize sailors—not women, just men—and make them crash their ships into the rocks. So I gotta keep my crew safe with earplugs, right?" the captain replied while letting go of the croissant the he was fighting over with the savage nymph, causing it to spring forward and fall on the floor.

"And why don't _we_ have any?" Auron mused, annoyed.

"Because sometimes she doesn't sing right away, like a trap, got it memorized? I'll go check if there's anything playing. If I don't come back…well, just have Larxene come up and slap me around or something." he got up from the table and opened the door. He poked his head out, then his whole body, then he closed the door behind him. The other five sat in silence waiting for the pyro to return. They heard the bumps and rattles as the ship docked safely in the rocks and were left confused.

"Can I just go slap him anyway?" Larxene suggested, when Axel came back in whistling and smiling.

"She must not be up yet, because the coast is clear!" he cheered. "That Sparrow guy can't do anything now! Haha!"

"Something tells me that we're going to be screwed later on," Xaldin scoffed.

After climbing from a rope to the safe land below (a rope that Demyx had burned his hands sliding down) they headed to the western side of the island where the cave's entrance was. Inside the cave was the goddess they all coveted, and hopefully would sway to the summoner's side. They tiptoed on the slippery black rocks and trudged in the sand, but the walk seemed never-ending.

"Auron…" Demyx whined.

"What?" he said in exasperation.

"I'm thirsty!"

"Shut up and jump in the ocean if that's what you want."

"Auron! Come on, why don't you let me have what's in that jug of yours?" Auron had completely forgotten about the jug of sake at his waist and wished he didn't. He could have used it earlier on in the journey.

"I told you already, I'm not letting you have alcohol while I'm around. If you're a water master, why don't you make yourself something?"

"Nah, I want whatever you have!"

"And whatever he wants, I'll take some too," Xaldin toyed with the swordsman.

"Nah, the great Sir Auron was never one to share, ya?" Wakka laughed.

All three laughed together while Auron kept walking, forcing himself not to reach for his Masamune and cursing under his breath.

Finally they reached the western end, and boy were they happy. The cave's entry was clear in sight and Axel ran up to the rocky cliffs to embrace them. "Oh my lovely Siren, before I leave this wretched world to travel with my completely moronic ex-coworkers, you shall prove to all of my sea rivals that I'm unbeatable in the waters! Thank you thank you thank you!" He then began gripping the rocks and smothering them in kisses, which disturbed the rest of them.

"Why is Axel kissing a rock?" Demyx asked.

"Well you see Demyx, when a man loves a woman—or in this case, a rock, and sometimes this happens with two guys so pay attention, they both want to proclaim their love in the best way possible. That's why the man will smother the rock in kisses, take his clothes off, and—" Larxene began, but was interrupted by Xaldin.

"You know, I don't think anyone wants to hear your version of the berserkers and the bees, if you know what I mean."

"Well you think of something better to do! Frankly I'm bored with this place! Let's just get the aeon and go!"

"No one is taking the Siren on my watch, savvy?" shouted an unfamiliar voice. The summoning crew turned from the cave to see a very disheveled looking man wobbling in the sand. His clothes were tattered and his hat was almost torn in half. His hair was a gigantic dreadlocked mop, Xaldin's was much neater, and jubilees of beads were thrown in it somewhere. His beard was tied into two braids and he was currently holding a gun in his left hand, a sword in his right, and a large strand of seaweed was tangled around a boot.

It was possibly the first time Axel's jaw had dropped since he found out why Roxas had been stealing the bananas from the pantry lately.

"You….you bastard! You're not supposed to be here! Didn't you get shipwrecked or something?" Axel yelled. "For once, the great Captain Jack Sparrow's not gonna get the prize of the sea, got it memorized? And what do you need it for anyway?"

"Oh great, it's clash of the catchphrases." Larxene drolly said.

"Look, it's much too long to explain," Jack said "but I'm only going to ask, would you rather die by gun or sword?"

Axel smirked. "How about neither?" His flaming chakrams spun in his palms as he was ready to fight. His emerald eyes were filled with determination, and he motioned for the rest of them to leave. "The rest of you, get to her and I'll be back in a minute!" The five nodded and headed inward. Jack dropped his gun and let the rapier sway in the air.

"So shall it begin here?" Jack grinned.

"You bet it will!" Axel threw one of the pinwheels and used the other to block the sword's swing. The second one flew back and nicked Jack's shoulder. He fall though, as the blade made a small incision on his chest.

They kept swinging and blocking, swinging and blocking like repetitive cannon fodder. They were exhausted, and covered in blood cuts. Jack began to run to Axel with a charge. He tried to block the swing but the pirate used the hilt to knock him into the sand. He would have gotten back up, but the shimmering silver was pointed at his forehead. He looked to the left. The gun was barely out of his reach! Oh how easier it would have been if Sparrow was trigger happy!

"Last words, Axel?" Jack cockily asked.

"Well I'd spell it out, but I think you've got 'kiss my ass' in your head already," he scoffed. He wasn't going to die. He escaped death after his flashy stunt in Betwixt and Between…why couldn't he here?

But something miraculous happened. Jack had dropped his sword in the beachy grains and ran to the entrance of the cave, slipping into the darkness. Axel shouted at him, things like "What's wrong with you? You had a clean shot!" and "Damn it, get over here so I can finish you off!" but still no answer. He stood up and wiped the sand off his robe and began to follow him. He knocked on the inside of the cavern and yoohooed to the pirate. That made him remember something that hadn't occurred to him until now. He was an exceptionally observant person, where sometimes sound wasn't a necessity to him.

That's why he ran in to tell the rest of them that he was wearing his earplugs since last night. That would be the only reason Jack would run inside. She got him in her hurricane.

_Larxene is gonna have my head for this one_, he thought while smacking his head repeatedly.

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God, how long had they been running now? For, who knows, ten minutes? Larxene could barely keep up with the guys since they got there. It was like there was this urgency in the air, and she was the only one too lazy to care. Once in a while she heard a voice ringing in the rocks, and she _thought_ it was her imagination, but…it wasn't the aeon, was it? Well, she'd just have to find out.

She tried a few experiments first, like running slowly for a while and pausing for nanoseconds just to see if any of them would notice, but of course they didn't. She was irritated, and if the five of them were getting their brains wrung out by a ghost then she'd have Axel's head for this one.

"Hey, they're probably not going to catch up, so we can stop running!" she said as she panted.

No response.

"Hey, I'm talking to you guys! We can stop!"

Still no response. Well, talking wasn't going to do anything. She decided slapping sense into them might work, so she lassoed the closest male to her, which happened to be Xaldin, and wrapped her arm around his neck. He stopped to stare back at her with vacant eyes and she backed away and let her guard down. His elbow jabbed her in the stomach and she collapsed, letting him keep running with the others. She coughed up blood, and now the singing was getting louder. The siren must have had a good grip on them if Xaldin would hit her that hard! She heard another set of eager footsteps behind her and saw the Captain Crazy Sparrow running with the flock, ad he "kindly" jumped over her body that was blocking the path and jingled and jangled to the aeon.

Out of all the places to be, she wished a flour sack was eating her alive.

"Larxene!" Axel was running to help the crouched lightning master. She leaned on his shoulder and pulled herself up. "Look, we don't have much time, but is that thing singing?"

"Wouldn't you know? Why are you here instead of going to see princess charming?" she asked. Axel scratched his head and made a guilty smile.

"Well, you see, there's something I kind of forgot about while I was checking the island today…you know how sometimes there's just a tiny detail you forget when you look at the big picture?"

"What the hell did you do?"

"I, uh…forgot to take my…earplugs out when I checked this morning…and they're kinda on now…please don't be mad!"

She wasn't mad. She was on the border of furious and insane with rage. But since they were both stuck in a horrible situation, it would be better to save the rage for the aeon. She dug her nails into his neck and sighed. "No, I'm mad, but we'll fix that once we catch up to those guys."

"What, do you have a plan?"

"You don't?"

"Well…no."

"Axel, you are the worst pirate that I have ever seen. Just let me limp over to Auron so I can re-kill him for giving Demyx that stupid summoning idea."

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Well, it's finally finished, and now here's the preview!

**Chapter 8: Kupo Power**

Can Axel and Larxene think of a way to save their four friends…and Jack, I guess…while getting the aeon's power for Demyx? And after that, they'll travel to a world where they're going to have to summon and run before they get caught…by the real kind of royal pain in the ass!

And just when they thought summoning was just going to be for fun…is there a real Sin? And how close is it to finding them? Find out next time!


	8. 8: Kupo Power

Disclaimer: Wakka's balls. There Damaris and John, I said it.

Again, I'd like to give a big shout out to all my fans. You have made this bizarre little idea turn into a great fic. It's now the most popular fic on this site, with over 3700 hits, over 30 favorites and alerts, and over 90 reviews. Thanx much :3! **And I'm INCREDIBLY SORRY that I haven't updated in over a month. I've been so distracted and I've had to get some stuff straight in my life…Sonicchica and yuki hibiki are allowed to smack the crap out of me now.**

Also, this next world…after Port Royal…was a request from EverlastingOblivion. It's ingenious, really. I don't know why I didn't think of it.

…Have you ever noticed that the chick in the Final Fantasy XIII previews looks like Marluxia? Just a thought.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The cave was small with small pools of salty water dripping from the stalactites. She was enveloped by the men she had hypnotized, who all had their weapons drawn and their brains thrown in the chum buckets. Their eyes, their faces, everything was completely vacant. She, on the other hand, was the most conscience aeon they had seen yet. Her body was barely covered, her breasts and lower area only shielded by small feathered wings. The back of her was draped in those feathers also, filled with gold and greens and blues. Her hair was short with lemon-lime and sapphire eyes. She smirked at the Flurry of Dancing Flames and the Savage Nymph, boasting her five man army.

In other words, Larxene was extremely pissed off.

"That slut," she growled, "is the thing that got them? I swear, she owes me a free jab in the stomach and a kick in the ass!" She pulled out her kunai and aimed for her head. Axel snatched it away from her just in time.

"You can't just go after it without any plan!" he yelled. "Watch this!" He flung a chakram towards her, and right before it hit her face, the possessed Demyx materialized his sitar and blocked the shot. The pinwheel flew back to him. "She'll use them as shields if she has to. All we need to do is get Demyx snapped out of it and the rest should follow if he can ask her…what do you think?"

"I think we should slam the bitch into the rocks."

"And that's why I'm not listening to you." Axel tapped his index finger on his lips, like a true pondering scholar. They needed a way to bind Demyx, keep him sane, summon or do whatever he does, and not kill the Siren. The whole trip would be a little worthless if it died, right? "We could try talking to it!"

Larxene skeptically looked at him. "Well, if it can smirk at us it should be able to hold a decent conversation, but I'm not saying a word, got it?"

"No, got it _memorized_!" he grinned. Out of all the people not to be hypnotized…He walked steadily over to her, putting his hands in the air to keep her minions at bay. He had to admit: seeing them in her trance was increasingly freaking him out. There was nothing in them anymore. Nothing. At least he still had his earplugs in. Imagine if he didn't! He'd have to hang himself when Larxene whined that she had to save them all…if she would be able to, that is.

"Oh Miss Siren," he said in his polite voice "before you decide to have my friends chop us up into slave food, may I just ask you a few things about yourself, like…why are you trying to kill us, why are you here, and why aren't you wearing any clothes?"

"I'm glad that you should ask, my pet," she said in a surprisingly sweet voice, "I can't be used as a tool like the other aeons, I want to be loved by a summoner and his guardians, and any other man!"

"Okay, but you don't have to brainwash them to do that!" Larxene shouted. "That's just artificial love! What, no one likes you enough to get the real stuff?"

"Quiet you!" the goddess snarled. "If you're not going to listen to what I have to say, then I'll just capture your heart too!"

"Whoa, hold on a sec. I'm not surrendering him to you until you tell us why you're hypnotizing our friends!" Larxene added. "I may not be your biggest fan, but we'll listen to you!"

"It's too late for that now," she said with a wicked smile. "You two, attack them!" The unconscious bodies of Auron and Wakka rose their heads with vacant eyes and grasped their weapons. Axel made a gulp noise and Larxene drew her kunai out again. They really weren't going to get a break for the summoner, were they! The siren was smart; not using Demyx and Xaldin because they knew their attack patterns already. Axel told Larxene to take care of Auron, as he had seen Wakka fight a few times before. They split up, and the drones followed them.

Wakka hurled his World Champion blitzball adorned in spikes and saws to Axel, who dodged it and watched it bounce off the rocks and back. That was all he could do at that point: dodge. He couldn't hit him, of course, because that would hurt the _real_ Wakka. He watched as Larxene was dodging the heavy Masamune swings lightning fast. Kunai cascaded through the air and were blocked with one hit.

"Axel, I don't think we can do this for much longer!" Larxene cried out.

"No, really? How do you think we can get Demyx sane again?" Axel replied. Larxene pondered for a minute while he evaded a venom kick.

"Sacrifice."

"What?"

"Think about it this way: she didn't pick Demyx or Xaldin to fight us because we know them. Since it's your fault we're in this situation, take off your earplugs and give them to Demyx and we won't fight you. He'll be able to talk to the wind whore and end of story, get it?" Sadly, that was a great idea. Axel was reluctant to agree, since he never wanted to end up like...them if she started singing. As long as wasn't going to attack them, it seemed safe. He ran fast enough to pass Wakka and turned back to his teammate.

"What about you? You'll have to take care of both of these guys. You okay with that?"

"Eh, screw it. This day can't get much worse, so I'll survive." She smiled with that fake cheer, and sent him the message of 'once we get on the airship, I'm going to kill you for reminding me.' Axel took a deep breath and slowly walked to Demyx. The siren didn't seem to notice, as she was controlling Auron and Wakka to have a two-on-one with Larxene. He removed each earplug, his hands twitching slightly, and put them in Demyx ears. There was no response still from his frozen body. Her melodies must have been ringing in his ears, keeping him hypnotized forever.

A good smack should do the trick, he thought. And he did, as hard as he ever willingly smacked someone. Demyx almost fell flat on his face from the impact and Axel smiled when he saw the crystal blue flood back into his eyes.

"What do you think you're doing? I didn't do anything this time!" Demyx shouted.

Axel laughed. "Be more appreciative next time, okay? We're saving you from this aeon, and you need to get her on our side, or we're finished."

"Eh? What do you—" he began, but saw Auron and Wakka aiming at Larxene. His eyes widened.

"She sang and put you under her spell. I didn't know because I had earplugs in the whole time, and Larxene's a girl, so they've been attacking us for a while now." The explanation didn't faze the indignation in Demyx's eyes. His sitar appeared again and he walked towards the goddess.

"How dare you…" he said in a mild and dark voice. She finally took notice of him and saw his furious glare.

"And how did you get out of my trance, my pet? Am I going to have to remind you who rules this island?" she asked in her candy sweet and bitter voice.

"How dare you…do this to them…" his voice trembled. "Aren't aeons supposed to help their masters?"

"Only the ones who are so passive and brain-dead that have gone with the flow so long!" He could care less about her reasoning. Axel joined Larxene in fighting of the two Spira saviors and cringed at their actions. There was still only one thing on his mind.

"How dare you hypnotize my friends! They're not supposed to be attacking each other, we're supposed to be fighting the evil in this world, and all we want is your help! Do you know what it's like to have nothing in your life, then you have the chance to turn it all around, then someone like you tears it all away? Do you know how much it hurts?" He ended, almost to tears, clutching the area where his heart would be. Why was he having these sudden outbursts lately? Everything in his life seemed so real, and so human that taking it away would absolutely kill him. It was like…he had a heart that wretched when he saw Auron swing his sword so Larxene would lose her balance, for Axel to shield her. The siren was even shocked by his response.

"I," she said laughing at herself, "I do. And here I thought a summoner was nothing more that some babbling holy child that took no care to their tools." Axel could hear faint sobbing from her now hidden face. "All my life, the only summoner whoever wanted my help was ruthless, cold, cruel, someone who brought my hopes up and drowned them over and over again. A summoner who never cared about the fact that I was nothing but a weapon to him…tell me then, what is the real reason you want me to join you, the one they call Demyx? What drove you to be a summoner under Yevon?"

"I don't know," he faintly said. "I never really thought about it."

"You must have. For someone to have such conviction in their eyes, there is something that keeps you traveling isn't there?" Well of course there was. He never openly admitted it though. Anyone who thought that all of this was to kill a monster he had never heard of was completely blind. It hurt him to see the past Organization XIII members entranced (well, Xaldin was practically useless at this point) and defenseless against them.

"I want this feeling…" he softly spoke, "I don't want this feeling to go away. Ever since I began this whole thing, it seems like I have people who care about me. I've never had anyone think of me as someone important…it doesn't really have to do with Sin, but Auron said I might as well if I'm here now." It felt so good to spill his desires onto someone. It was like a gust of cool air had filled his chest and cleared his mind.

"So are you still going only because he wishes you to?"

"Yeah…I think I am."

"Then I'll make you a deal," she suggested, with a new aura and a sweeter smile on her face. "Don't give up on those feelings I once had and I will help you on your quest. Do we have a deal?"

"Yes, Miss Siren. I promise." He made his ceremonial prayer and she vaporized into his new melody. Demyx saw Xaldin's face in shock as he woke up. He stared around blankly.

"Why is it that I always have the feeling that I've missed something really important, like some major plot point?" he smugly asked. Demyx only smiled.

He was still watching Axel and Larxene trying to fend off Auron and Wakka, who had cornered them. Their bodies paused before any final blows were dealt. He saw them turn around, with brighter conscious eyes, Wakka's mouth ajar and his face stunned. Auron, wasn't surprised at all, and smirked at Demyx. Of course he didn't want to admit the half-wit saved them all, but at least he did a damn good job doing it. And he…looked disturbingly happy when he snapped out of the Siren's trance. He really did need this summoner thing, even if it might not mean much in the end.

"What the bloody 'ell is going on?" asked the snapped-out and confused Jack Sparrow. He saw Demyx clutching the sheet music and Axel grinning. His face turned sour and he realized his defeat. "I'm never one to come to terms with my mistakes, but I'll let you remember this as the one day you beat Captain Jack Sparrow!"

Axel rolled his eyes. "Sure. And it will be my last."

* * *

A day later the Aurochs had given them a trip back to the gummi ship they had cleverly hidden in Port Royal, no matter how odd it was that a gigantic white ship could hide in thin palm tree forest for two days without anyone noticing. Axel had brought Wakka and his second mate, Locke Cole off-deck and through the tangle so that he could say his farewells. 

"Now I know that things are gonna get hectic after I leave," he began "and I know that our good first mate Wakka is going to be leaving too, for family reasons. So that means, YOU, Locke Cole, will be the new captain of the Aurochs. And you can't screw up, make shady deals with trading companies, sacrifice your crew for a huge box of gold, and do **not** go to Taratoga for a good night of fun. Got it memorized?"

"You got it captain! Treasure hunting, kindness, and no scurvy on the privates! You can count on me!"

"Good, and Wakka?"

"Ya captain?"

Axel put his hands on his shoulder. "You sure you don't want to come with us? You still seem a little…shaken up."

Wakka saw Auron staring at him from the foot of the Falcon Peak. "No, it's something I should have done a long time ago. I'll go back to Destiny Islands, pick up a friend of mine…and we're going back to Spira, where we belong ya?"

"Alright, as long as you don't regret it!" Axel walked down to the airship and Looked behind him one last time before boarding. "And remember: we're not stopping until we kill whatever it was that you said…Sin! We're not stopping anywhere!"

Wakka simply smiled and waved as the ship rose into the air and flew back into the cosmos.

_I'm glad you think it's gonna be that easy. Hopefully we're just being paranoid…_

* * *

"Demyx…do you remember the one place that Xemnas said we couldn't toy with?" Xaldin asked as his eyes whirred around the room. 

"Yeah, because they'd be on our tracks if we did, right?"

"I think we've ended up I that place."

The hall they were in was filled with luscious strawberry carpet and banners on the walls. Gigantic white doors were set by the banners, and from the windows you could see hedges of castles and cows and mice. Demyx's eyes widened when he saw the mice.

"Wait, I never knew there was somewhere we weren't supposed to be! Since when?" Larxene asked.

"That's because you have no attention span" Axel answered. "He said never come to the castle of…you know, or else the keybearer would become the biggest annoyance of all, along with those animals that follow him around. The king, or whoever he is, isn't one to be messed with sometimes."

"So you mean," Demyx began, but paused. Then panicked again. "We're in the king's castle? What kind of aeon would be wandering around here? And I thought the mouse guy would want to save the world, not hide summons in his throne room!"

"Will someone please explain what you're talking about to me?" Auron sighed.

"It's a long story, and we already don't have enough time. There's a guy…mammal-like figure…who works with Sora and his pals. This is where he lives. If someone sees us, we're dead" Xaldin said. "That's uncertain, but if we want to get in and out of here, we'll have to sneak by every…"

_Thump…thump…thump…_

Their faces turned pale. Demyx began running in a little circle. "Crap crap crap crap! Where should we go?"

"I thought it was uncertain that something bad would happen." Auron said. "Why don't you just hit them in the face with your sitar? It worked with the mechanic."

"What did you do to a mechanic?" Larxene asked.

"It's a long story with details I'd rather not mention again. Come on, there's a doorway right here!" The swordsman scrambled and his hands wrapped around a brass handle. He pulled it open and the four Nobodies filed in, then he closed it behind him. The stretchy hall was now empty with the echoing of the footsteps to fill its loneliness. Suddenly, those footsteps became louder, and louder, and louder. Then…softer, and softer, and somehow less threatening. They became little pitter-patters of furry feet. Around the corner came a small chipmunk with a honker as big and red as Rudolph's, with a petit wrench in his arms. His steps turned to skips, and he whistled a cheery tune. He paused in front of the door the summoner party had rushed into.

"Hm? I thought I heard someone talking!" Dale pondered. "Oh well, 'guess it was just the wind!" He skipped away from the door and back to the courtyard, where his brother was expecting him to finish tightening the bolts on that new Kingdom Model ship…

* * *

At this point in our heroes' travels, you might have a few ideas running through your mind. You could be asking yourself, "Is this author a complete sadist and will have the Fab 5 taken down because they've been caught by royal guards?" Or maybe your considering that the author will have something quite fortunate happen, like a door being unlocked, or the misplacement of a key. Or maybe you believe that this tale is being dragged on just to torture the only completely sane one, Auron. 

It's a combination of the two. You'll see.

"Hey, look at that! There's a staircase in there!" Demyx exclaimed after seeing that the throne at the end of the room was off-kilter. Axel shouted a "hello, is anyone down there?" in the dark passage and it boomed in its walls. Xaldin was sitting on the cushy throne, biting off an irritating cuticle, while Larxene tried to push him off. Auron, parted the masters of water and fire and headed downstairs.

"Where do you think you're going? Don't we work as a team?" Larxene smirked.

"Never, did I say that the two of us are on a 'team' and I most likely never will. Things like open secret channels aren't coincidental. Someone's inviting us in." he solemnly replied. Her smirked dropped, and she took the pressure off of Xaldin's ribcage.

"Fine, but no one died and made you king!" Her eyes wandered to Demyx, who watched his savior walk down the stairs and followed him like a lapdog. She smirked, and held her hand out for the other two to wait for their responses. After a while, she yelled "Did you find anything yet?"

"Yeah, there's not much except a door!" Demyx replied. "And there's this huge shiny thing in the middle of the room!"

Larxene sighed. "Auron, if he can, tell him to go into the light, for god's sake."

"The sad thing is that he's telling the truth." Auron said. "We're going through the door. Stay if you want." Axel jumped out of his crouching position and went down the stairs. Xaldin even stood up to follow the rest of the crowd. She hated being pressured into doing something—and in such a passive and nonchalant manner!—and now she felt like she had to care about what happened to Demyx. Damn it, she only tagged along to keep herself from being bored to death! So just so that she wouldn't be alone and wanted dead or alive in Happy Funtime Castle, Larxene went down the stairs into the basement.

The door that the two had mentioned was already open, and had a bizarre grey tone to it, like all the color was sucked from it. Dry like Dracula's main course. Ha, they didn't care if she came or not, did they? Lovely, she thought. Well, if someone was actually following them, there was always the I-told-you-so card_  
_

* * *

_Meanwhile, at a different end of the universe…_

"Leeeeeeee-on! Git over here!" Cid yelled at the gunblader from the other end of the boroughs. Ever since that incident when "the man with the guitar and the one with the big sword" knocked him out, he demanded routine security camera maintenance checks and patrol shifts. Those Nobodies could be in any nook or cranny of the city, and it was up to the Restoration Committee to prevent any more tragedies. Well, at least he thought the bump on his head was a tragedy. Yuffie just thought it was hilarious. Leon walked over to the engineer.

"Yes Cid?"

"How're things neer the market place?" he asked in his thick country twang.

"…just fine."

"Alrighty then, keep searchin'" He went back to his camera check ups and twisted the last few bolts back onto the bot.

"Can I ask you something?" Leon piped up again.

"Hm? Sure, just spit it out boy!"

"Did the forecast Aerith read this morning have a chance of showers?"

Now that he mentioned it, the narrow walkway of the borough became a lot darker. How unexpected it was to have such abrupt clouds on such a sunny day. Leon and Cid both stopped their work and squinted into the sky. Neither of them could see thunder cracks or bolts of lightning, and not a single drop hit their skin. That's when Leon saw more of what the cloud was. His eyes widened and his gunblade clattered onto the pavement.

It was…gigantic. Its shape was unidentifiable, yet it struck fear in both of them. It had fins that spanned to the end of time and scales that could pop out and kill you if you stared too hard. They heard it scream, with a loud screech that deafened their minds and rang through the alleys. The townspeople could be heard screaming in the marketplace, and the earth began to tremble.

What was it?

Cid scrambled to his feet and his confused feet and ran to Merlin's room.

"Wait, Cid!" Leon shouted.

"Round up everyone and git somewhere safe! That thing's gonna devour us all!" the mechanic yelled back.

"No, but…what's happening?"

"One of 'em little fairy girls told me 'bout this. As far as we know, it's something called a Sin. Now hurry up and git out of here!" Leon's eye drifted downward and he nodded. He ran in the direction that Aerith and Tifa were in. Sin, it was called. How did it get here, in Radiant Garden? It couldn't have been a Heartless; there was no symbol on its chest and the same goes for a Nobody. This couldn't be happening, he said in his head. He wasn't going to let his home get taken over once more!

* * *

As mentioned earlier, this is the part of the epic adventure where Auron is tortured yet again through the magic of wardrobe changes. He looked around after walking into this world, where everything was…black and white. He had to blink a few times when he saw a _cow_ and a _chicken_ walking around. Then again, if a mouse could be king and if in his world you could ride around on a giant yellow bird, then this was normal. There were lots of hills in the background, and they were standing in a patch of grass surrounded by daisies and happy little flowers. 

He swore, if anything started singing to him, he was going to turn around.

But there was still the matter of what the three men in front of him looked like. Their skin dyed ghost white and their hair bleached various colors of grey and black, there was something else a little different about them. If there was a word to describe it...it was _cute_. Cute and cartoony and even a little retro. And even he had to deal with it. His looks didn't matter, but it was his sword. It shrank a little, and it didn't look deadly enough to slice open a teddy bear.

Axel had stood up and brushed his knees off, then he looked at his simple hands and felt his hair, which lost a few of its spikes and most of its texture. "Damn it, what happened to my other finger?" he exclaimed.

Xaldin got up and resumed his stoic, arms-crossed positioned. "Aw, did poor little Axel lose more than his tough guy looks?"

"Yeah, and you certainly didn't lose any of yours!" he smirked back. It was true: quiet, standoffish Xaldin managed to have floppy black braids and blank black eyes. He was pouty, like a pit bull puppy that you just had to say "Aw, what a cute wittle doggie!" at. Now Larxene had passed through the world warp and didn't trip over Demyx's body (who tripped first). Her antennae seemed to bounce even more than they already did and she carried the same facial expression as Xaldin, except it was a little more feminine. She kicked Demyx on the shin and told him to get up. An he, well, as the one who wasn't as cynical as the rest of them, wore the black and white transformation quite well.

"Alright, alright, I'll get up! Just feel this grass, it's all fuzzy!" he smiled. He decided to pet the grass for a couple of second more. He pulled off his gloves for a second, and felt the practically fur grass in the webs of his four fingers. The others looked annoyed, but he didn't care. It just showed him how much they didn't care about the small things in life.

_Kupo!_

"Aaaaaah, the grass just meowed at me!" he screamed jumping up from the patch and clinging to Auron's arm. They saw what had made the small noise, and it certainly wasn't the grass. It was squished, was fuzzy, white (in this world it was) with two little hands, two little feet, and two little ears, and a large pompom dangling from its head. It felt the pressure lifted from it and shook itself from the ground. Larxene pulled out a kunai and Axel tugged at her arm and gave her the "don't kill everything that moves" look. She rolled her eyes and put it back.

The white creature floated around with its wings and looked at our heroes with curious eyes. "Ne, ne, who are you, kupo?" it asked in a child's voice.

"Eh, I'm Demyx! sorry about sitting on you earlier…" he grinned while scratching his head. "Ah, and these are Auron, Axel, Larxene, and Xaldin!"

"Hey, why didn't I get introduced first? I'm right next to you!" Larxene whined.

"I think he just did it in alphabetical order…by accident." Axel replied. "What are you anyway?" he asked, pointing to the fluffy white thing.

"Ne, I'm a Mog, but you can call me Artemicion! You don't know where you are, do you?"

"Nah, not really," the musician said. "do you?"

"Is it just me or has Demyx been adding 'ehs' and 'ahs' and 'nahs' in his sentences to talk to that cat?" Xaldin whispered to Auron.

"We're in a place called the Timeless River, but me and Choco got here by accident and now I don't know where he went…"

"Choco? Like a chocobos I assume." Auron said. Finally, something that made a little sense to him. He had never really seen a mog or moogle, but he remembered someone he knew had a weapon shaped like one, but it got thrown at Wakka's face after he said an Onion Knight would bring out her smile and a few other things. And why would a mog be with a chocobo anyway? The Nobodies looked at him like he was insane when he could carry a conversation with the creature.

"Yeah, he is! But he went missing after that big cat and the mouse chased us away. I don't want to bother you, but…we'll give you anything you need if you help me find him."

"Of course we will!" Demyx exclaimed and gave him a thumbs-up. "We'll find your whatchamacallit friend and we'll take all the help finding aeons we need!"

"Aeons?" Artemicion asked and tilted his head. "Oh, we can help with that!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

That's a wrap for now. Sorry again it took so long. I've seen stories with longer hiatuses though. SOME DON'T EVEN FINISH! Okay…sorry. That's right, preview:

**Chapter 9: Battle Royale**

The summoning party is off to find Choco, but who kidnapped him: the "big cat" or…the king himself? After that, while Demyx, Auron, and Larxene take a walk on the wild side, Axel and Xaldin do a little kidnapping of their own, except it's something a little more important. And in a side-installment, what happened to Radiant Garden? Is Sin really out to destroy every world it touches? Find out next time!


	9. 9: Battling a Royale

Disclaimer: This chapter is really long. I realize that. It took over four months to group my ideas together, so…yeah. There's a lot to cover.

Disclaimer: Wakka's balls.

Auron and Wakka: NOT THAT AGAIN!

Erm…yeah. Maybe this time when I say I'll stay on track, I will. I have become the George W. Bush of fanfiction by saying I'll stay the course. Crap.

Oh yeah, there are more costume changes in this chapter.

Auron: (smacks forehead).

I love you all, my awesome fans. I really do.

Axel: Lies! Lies! She forgot to tell you about a twist!

Oh yes, besides the airship hijack, the effects of Sin on Radiant Garden, and costumes, there is something I forgot to mention. It's important, I guess…very!

…So sorry, sidetracked again. I'm extremely disappointed in you people. There is a concerning lack of Auron and Rai fanfics. Get to writing some, damn it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Once upon a time, there was a magical land with ghostly rivers and colorless fields. Even if the world had been drained of all their color, they were still a happy folk. The cows mooed with glee, the chickens clucked in happiness, and everything seemed so quaint and charming.

…That is, if you ignored the shouting troupe of Nobodies and the flying cat-thing.

"Eh? So BOTH of you are aeons?" Demyx asked, stupefied, to their new acquaintance Artemicion. The mog told them the big cat and the mouse went near the river and that Choco, his fellow aeon, might have gone that way too.

"Right! We work together to use super attacks, ne!" the fluffy mog replied. "Well, we can't do much damage, but we can heal you and help you find the rest of us!"

"Ooh, I bet there's some super secret 'Smother-to-Death-with-Cuteness' attack, right?" Xaldin sarcastically said. "And stop saying 'eh!' It's annoying!"

"Well the Canadians would say differently," commented Axel.

"Who?"

"Never mind! Just explain what this big cat and this mouse look like already!" Larxene yelled.

"Well…the cat has a big hat and a grumpy face and the mouse has a big grin and shakes everyone's hands!" Artemicion said.

"Yeah, **that** helps us a lot. If you can't describe them well enough, then at least ell us you know they will definitely be by the river." Auron said. He pushed his glasses higher on his nose and glanced up. They were near a river that flowed like black watercolor paint with grey sand, and grey waves, and…well, nothing too colorful to describe. There was, although, a large steamboat docked on their side of the river bank. Marshmallow-like puffs of smoke came from an unseen boiler room and a crane hung high above with a cage attached to it.

That cage…was bent in, broken in, and for the lack of a better phrase, pretty screwed up.

The group stopped to examine the boat. Artemicion used his tiny wings to fly up to the metal mass. He poked it, he sniffed it, he pushed it and made it swing like a giddy schoolgirl at recess, and turned to his companions and shouted "Yay! Choco isn't around here anymore!"

"And tell me why this is a GOOD thing, you frigging furball?!" Larxene cursed at him.

"It means he escaped from the mean cat and mouse! Yay!"

"You can't be serious!" Demyx smacked his forehead. "Where could he have gone to?"

"Don't worry, I **think** I have an idea," Axel said. "If you can remember, Xemnas kept a close eye on those who were controlling the Heartless, right?"

"Mm-hm," the three Organization members hummed.

"Well, one of the worlds the Heartless masters tried to control was this place, Timeless River…I think. And in Timeless River, a Heartless master couldn't get in so easily because of a time paradox. Do you know who that is?"

"Maleficent?" Demyx posed.

"No, she isn't cheery enough for this place."

"The king?" Xaldin questioned.

"He doesn't control Heartless!"

"Xaldin's mom!" Larxene yelled in glee.

"Don't talk if you're not going to try!"

"Pete."

"Whozzuh?" Axel stuttered.

"Pete. The one who disrupted the Underworld. Pete." Auron confirmed. Axel smirked and put his arms around the stoic man's shoulders.

"Now this is a guy who remembers a mug like that!"

"Get off me."

"Okay!" Axel quickly removed himself and hid behind Larxene. "But still, now we have to find Pete, because he's going to do something…evil with Choco! Yep, that's right, something…er…bad! So we must travel to the ends of this colorless land to find him!"

"You don't have any idea what you're saying either, do you?" Auron asked.

"Shut up!"

"Both of you be quiet! We know we're looking for the fat one, so let's keep a lookout for anything too weird…er. Weirder." Xaldin suggested.

"Ne, ne, like big floating doors, ne!"

"Exactly…wait, what?"

"Ne, ne! There are big floating doors near where Demyx sat on me! We should check in there, na!" Artemicion tugged on Demyx's coat. "Let's go, let's go na!"

"Na, let's go see!" Demyx added and they skipped to the four doors of mystery. Meanwhile, the others were still confused on how the moogle managed to make up another nonsensical word like 'na,' and how Demyx quickly picked it up and into his vocabulary.

They made their way over to the quartet of entryways. Along the way, the party had become five people and a fuzzy flying cat (because moogle doesn't translate well in a Nobody's head). And there were four doors. The math isn't that hard. Of course, Larxene suggested that she should stay behind in case the chocobo was around them the whole time, and if she spotted him, he would become fried chicken. The rest argued on why she got to be the lucky one. Well, there are plenty of reasons why **not**, but Larxene has a way with words, and in this way:

"Well, Demyx is the summoner, so it's his duty to find the aeon, Auron's in the same boat because he's the guardian or whatever, Xaldin does less than I do because he's drunk or hypnotized the whole time in every world, and Axel hasn't done anything yet because he just joined our little crusade. And I think the fuzzy thing hates me."

Auron would have replied, but time is money, and money is gold, and a chocobo's feathers are gold. It's a strange connection, but it works. So the four horsemen took their places, Auron at the first door, Demyx at the second, Axel at third, and Xaldin (or Captain Useless, as the savage nymph called him) at last. They all walked into the blinding lights, and into the new pieces of the world. Larxene watched them leave, and her hand wiped the oversized and cartoonish drops of sweat off her forehead. She would have gone with one of them, but that presence was bothering her. It was there, and it was unavoidable. She turned around and glanced to each corner of the black and white calm.

"I know you're here, whoever you are, so stop hiding and show me your face."

"So you do, Number Twelve."

Her electric blue eyes widened as she saw the man she learned to fear materialized in front of her. His white-grey hair flowing, his robes a shadow mixed with the others, his eyes those of a basilisk gluing her feet to the ground. Even if everything looked so much cuter and surreal, it was still…him.

"S…Superior.." she gasped.

"Yes, Larxene, and may I ask how you are doing?"

"I thought you were dead already…"

"No, I asked how you are doing, not if I'm alive." His hand reached out and gripped her arm. She struggled to make him let go, but his nails dug into her skin. His cool and collective voice asked her again, "Where are the other members who are with you?"

"Who do you know is with me?"

"Xaldin, Axel, and as far as I know, the most troubling one is Demyx, correct?"

"Where are the other with you?" she tried to say through her gritting teeth.

"With me? Child, they choose to serve me! What contracts do you think I make? Luxord, Xigbar, and Saïx are still in the World that Never Was, awaking their fates."

"Then if you already have minions, why are you trying to get us back? Our allegiance isn't to you anymore!" She knew she made a mistake by saying that. What a stupid, stupid, stupid thing to say. It would put targets on all of their backs, even Auron's. Xemnas wasn't good with the times members tried to remodel or break free of the Organization. And she, who had survived her attempt at a coup with the Graceful Assassin Marluxia, could be the one with the worse punishment. She fanned her kunai trio in her free hand, and Xemnas knocked them out again effortlessly.

"You know you can't beat me with those, if you could fall prey to the keyblade master with them. Let me make a deal with you: you can have your life back if you try to put an end to the plans Demyx and his new friend are making, and join me in the last fight for Kingdom Hearts."

"My life isn't yours for the taking! And neither are the rest of theirs!" Larxene couldn't take this much longer. Was she actually starting to care about her idiotic traveling partners, or was this herself talking for everyone?

"Then I will make sure that all of you receive more pain than you have felt in your entire lives, even when you had hearts. Especially the summoner and his guardian!" Xemnas let go of her arm. She pulled up the sleeve and saw thin trickling lines of blood and violet bruises painting her skin. He raised his hand to beckon a portal of darkness.

"Wait!" she cried before he disappeared again. He turned his head ever so slowly. She gulped. "What do you know about Sin?"

He smiled. "We all indulge in Sin, but only some of us can harness these sins as our own."

And he melted into the shadows, just like that.

Larxene fell into the grass drained of green. She coughed, trying to suppress the bleeding from her arm. Her mouth licked the little rivers of red, while her hopeless and trembling hands grasped clumps of grass. She wanted to cry. Seeing Xemnas in front of her made her want to stick those kunai full of lightning into the cavern where her heart would be. She thought she was free by now, free! But no, nothing that made her happy wouldn't last long. Well, it never lasted long for anyone. She can't have the freedom she wanted the whole time she was chained to the Organization. Axel couldn't keep the only friend he had because it wasn't meant to be, according to Number Thirteen.

And sooner or later, Demyx wouldn't have those feelings anymore that Auron made him have.

So she did care about the others. It would have been much easier if that wasn't the case. But she did speak for everyone to Xemnas. Sure, someone could have gotten wrapped up in the moment and said they would go with him, but no one would want to. Even Xaldin was enjoying his life on the outside. And to know that there were three others, waiting to for a "death by Sora" at their base, god, what a horrible man. She couldn't tell anyone that she saw him, no one, and she had to be careful about that. Some members said that reading Larxene is easy because she only has two expressions: pissed and disturbed. And the one who made up that saying was Axel.

If she wasn't trying to hold back her tears, she would have screamed into the charcoal sky.

"Shit," she whispered, as she settled with the voice she had left.

* * *

_Meanwhile, through the four doors:_

"I'm getting a headache from these Heartless…I swear if I fall over all of them are going with me."

--------

"Get away get away from here!"

"Yay, Demyx is the great protector of Lilliput, ne!" (now we know where Artemicion went)

--------

"I'm supposed to be stopping the fire…and I use fire. What is wrong with this place?"

--------

"Oh shut up Pyro, I have to protect furniture! This is the stupidest task ever!"

--------

"Then you shut up too…Xaldin? How can you hear me?"

--------

"They don't make black and white houses very well. These walls are paper thin. You're really, really, loud when you complain."

--------

"Demyx! Can you hear me too?"

--------

"Yeah, and Auron is yelling at me for failing my task already, so what do you need?"

--------

"How did you already fail it?"

--------

"Well, I was supposed to make it so no one attacked the big tower in the middle of the circle—"

"Ne, and Demyx fell into it, na!"

"Yeah, but at least I found something!"

--------

"What?"

--------

"A foot! It looks like a bird's foot and it's big!"

"Ne, they put Choco into pieces!"

--------

"Even if Demyx is a complete dolt, I think that's what we should do to get out of here."

--------

"Fall into a building?"

--------

"No, do the wrong thing! Don't protect the furniture, keep the flames alive and jump!"

Of course, theories like these are usually right, thankfully for our anti-heroes. Auron jumped off the small planks that were holding up the rest of the Heartless (and he didn't realize ghost don't sink, but remembering you're dead can slip some people's minds). Axel threw his chakrams aflame into the burning building, and Xaldin sat in an unmoving chair while watching the couch and wardrobe travel into the black hole.

"Auron, there are people screaming inside! Shouldn't I get them out?"

--------

"No! They aren't actually there!"

--------

"Man, this feels so wrong."

Axel kept feeding the fire in front of him, trying to ignore the screams of pain. He watched the foundation crumble as the second story toppled onto the first, then the third, and so on until there was nothing but a heap of beams and ashes. He slammed his pinwheels into the engines of the zooming hot rods and peered inside the towers ruins. Axel expected to see the disturbing limbs or other body parts of the chocobo, but Demyx left out the part that they weren't sawed-off stumps. They were puzzle pieces, like wooden chunks that fit to make a statue or a key, and his was shaped like part of the main body and the other leg.

"Xaldin, how's it going in your door?"

--------

"I have nowhere left to sit. The damn wormhole took everything!"

--------

"Well, did you get anything?"

--------

"It looks like there's something on the ground still, hold on a—oh gods, it's the head!"

--------

"Quit acting like a pansy, it isn't real! Demyx, you still got that leg, right?"

--------

"Yep! Auron, are you done falling now?"

--------

"I have the other half of the body. Quick, go through the door you came in!"

They all rushed back to the doors and pushed their way back into the grayscale twilight. The four men almost ran into each other after their trials of destruction. Then they spotted Larxene, still wheezing on the grass near them.

"Larxene!" Demyx cried out as he rushed to her side. "What happened to your arm? Who came here while we were gone?"

"N-no one, a few Heartless came around here. Big ones, like Behemoths. They caught me by surprise." Axel saw her eyes as she spoke. Obviously he could see right through her, so she changed her tone before he asked what was _really_ wrong. "Stop worrying about me already! Did you find the bird or what?"

"We found something close to it," Xaldin said, snatching the rest of the pieces from the ghost and the Nobodies. He fit them together to make the final chocobo, and hopefully the final clue to where it was.

It didn't do anything, which shouldn't surprise you by now.

"Oh damn it, you leave, get me scraped up, and now we have no lead whatsoever! Got any ideas now, Furball?" Larxene wheezed at Artemicion. Demyx told her to stop talking or else she would fall over. He tore off a piece of his Organization coat and wrapped it around the cuts Xemnas had made. He said if there was no Organization, he shouldn't care about his uniform anymore. She shuddered to think that it might not be nonexistent is the Superior knew where they were.

"Eh? No, no, I don't know how to find Choco, ne! That's why I wanted to look with you!" he said in his defense.

"Does anyone besides me think that the puzzle IS Choco?" Axel asked.

"No!"

"But he does have a point," Demyx pondered. "Sure, the big scary kitty Mr. Pete can't use magic, but that means there's some one who can!"

"Maleficent?" Axel posed.

"No, this is too basic for that, I think."

"Xaldin's mom?" Larxene questioned, and Xaldin shot her a dirty look.

"Erm…probably not."

"Doesn't anyone keep track of the names we mention in the past hour? He's talking about the king!" Auron yelled, not in glee.

"Exactly! It's a test to see how good of a summoner I am!"

"Well obviously you're not a very good one if you can't turn Pinocchio into a real bird, huh?" Xaldin smirked. "No aeon you have can change the composition of anything, so now what?" That question really left Demyx a little stunned. All of the problems they had so far were easily fixed, but that's because he had someone else's help. This rested solely on him, and he still wasn't quite used to that.

"Oh…okay, lemme just think of something…" he said as his sitar appeared and he clutched its neck. "Maybe…no, that would blow it away, so how about…no, that's too wet…it'd break that way…um…I think it would die if that happened…hold on…" The others watched as Demyx was lost in his thoughts. It would hurt his pride if they just shouted the answer to him, but they weren't going to get anywhere if he sat there and thought on his own. Demyx looked up and saw them staring at him, disgruntled.

_God I'm such an idiot, they probably already know the answer and they just don't want to tell me because they think my feelings will get hurt,_ he thought._ What, do they think I'm that stupid? Seeing them look at me like this is what really hurts!_

"Any luck yet? What about—" Larxene asked.

"Hold on a sec, I think I almost have it…"

"Well we're not getting anywhere, so you could try—" Axel began

"I said I almost have it, okay? I don't need your help!" Now he was getting frustrated. It was something so simple but he couldn't figure it out. He needed it to be quiet, he needed to think, but no matter how hard he tried, it wasn't coming to him.

"Demyx, please, before anything happens, try to listen to us first." Auron said.

_That's it, I give up._

"Look, I get it, I'm a screw up! I know that I just can't figure it out because I'm too dumb! I just don't like it when you hide the answer to make it look like you don't know either! I don't need your pity, you know, I just want to get the answer on my own!" Everyone looked surprised. It would have been so much easier if he pretended he was ignorant, but **that** came over him. It was a feeling that he hadn't experienced yet, but it made his stomach churn and his head throb.

He was pretty sure it was called anger. The smallest thing made him angry again. Like those times, when he went into the cities, and…no, that wasn't like it at all! It wasn't that extreme, and he promised himself that those feelings wouldn't come out again. But then he remembered something else about his life as a Nobody: he had never gotten angry at anyone, but used that extreme form all the time. He was certain that one was called rage. Demyx put his hand to his head to stop the headache that felt like fire burning him inside out.

_Fire…_

"Fire! That's it!"

"Fire isn't going to work, it's just going to burn up and die!" Axel insisted.

"No, trust me, it's going to work!" He began to pluck the sweet melody of the firebird and the Phoenix's flaming wings came to life without its shades of red and orange, but with the same grace and "un-chibi" look. "Phoenix, get Choco out of the wooden trap!"

"Demyx, it's not going to work! Listen!' Auron tried to say.

"Auron, Choco isn't the wood, he's in the wood! It's like a box and he's stuck in it! Watch!" Phoenix cast a breath of fire across the grass where the life-sized wooden bird lay. The wood burned with black smoke and ashes spread into the air. Little puffs of grey covered with black dots (or an ashy yellow puff, to those in color) emerged from the fire with a loud "KWEEEHH!" sound. Finally, the tomb was destroyed and Choco had become free!

"Yay, yay, Choco is back, ne! We knew you could do it, ne, Demyx!" Artemicion cheered, who had been quiet for some time. And although no one else wanted to admit it, they probably shouldn't have doubted him. Would they say it? Of course not. Demyx needed the time to feel proud of himself as he watched Artemicion and Choco become the new music for his summoning duties.

Demyx turned to his cohorts with a big boasting grin. "Shall we get going then?"

* * *

"Yeah, yeah, just get back to the castle and hopefully it's not an 'off with our heads' getaway," Larxene groaned.

_Meanwhile, at the other end of the universe…_

"Tifa! Tifa! Are you all right?"

She couldn't see much, only black haze and the blur of someone kneeling over her. They kept screaming her name, but she was so distant from reality at this point. What had happened exactly? There was a shadow that loomed over everything, and then…the buildings around her started to crumble…and then something must have hit her head _really_ hard for her to get knocked out. What was that shadow, anyway? It certainly wasn't a cloud.

_Pull yourself together, Tifa! Get back in you head!_

Her focus came back pixel by pixel as the blur above became familiar golden spikes and good old Mister Melancholy and Handsome worrying over her. His crystal blue eyes watched her frantically as the crashing waves as she coughed her strength back. He smiled at her, the rare smile that you couldn't get out of him even if you threatened his life and sanity.

"Cloud…what happened?" she murmured

"I don't know, Tifa, I was underground the whole time and I hear something on the surface but I just couldn't help you in time…" He pressed her against him in a loving embrace. He was always the same to her. He had the most gentle touch, the smell of compassion and desire, the taste of…

Speaking of the senses, she was able to see the wreckage perfectly. The black haze was smoke coming from every orifice in the city and it filled her nose with the smell of death. The only things she could hear were Cloud's drowned apologies and the crackling of fire.

And everything around them was flat. No buildings, no bridges, no people.

"Here, we need to get you to Aerith right away," he said as he lifted her up by her back and the crevasse under her knees.

_Hmph, I've always wanted a fairy tale ending, but this is just ridiculous._

"How are the others doing?" Tifa asked in her hoarse voice.

"They're…okay."

"Cloud, tell me the truth. I've known you long enough to know that 'okay' with a pause before it means 'bad.' What's wrong?"

He sighed and began walking to the boroughs without making eye contact with her in his arms. "Before most of the damage was done, Cid and Leon were the first two to see…whatever it was. It was heading for them and Leon pushed Cid out of the way and told him to find everyone else. But now…"

"You can't find him?"

"…yeah. We don't know if it…consumed him or not, but we can't find any reasons to think differently…" They had made it to the center of the boroughs, where a line of lifeless and hopeless people stood in front of a wobbly blue tent. They saw Yuffie handing out packages of band-aids, medicine, and food, while Aerith was treating a man who had lost a leg during the attack.

"Cloud?"

"Hm?"

"Is this worse than…him?"

"…yeah. A lot worse."

Yuffie saw the two from the corner of her eye and motioned for them to walk to the tent. Her eyes showed concern for Tifa, and told Cloud to lay her on a cot so that Aerith could treat her right away.

"We've been so busy, there hasn't been any time to breathe! It's a good thing you two are safe, though. Cloud! Get to work on handing out packages! Cid's busy on the gummi ship communication thingy with Sora, so we need all the help we can get!" Yuffie said in one big huff.

"Do you know if anyone's seen…Leon yet?"

The ninja fell silent. That wasn't a good sign.

Cloud felt a droplet of rain fall on his nose. He looked up to the sky to see dark grey and thundering masses spit on them, like the heavens punishing them.

* * *

Whatever this was…something had to be done.

_Back in the Falcon Peak…_

"Okay, so tell me what's eating you. That face you made earlier is not the good face."

Axel was pacing in front of Larxene, who was sitting on a bed in a large cabin, furnished only in white and red.

"Nothing happened, damn it! And if it did, I'd tell you! Who do you think I'd spill the news to, Xaldin? leave me alone!"

"The normal Larxene would spread the news around, even if it was bad. Come on, I won't tell anyone!" he said teasingly.

"Why don't you go play in the engine or walk outside in the nice, oxygen-less air, huh?" she yelled while hugging a squished white pillow. There was no way he was going to get her encounter with Xemnas out of her. None of these guys needed **that** on their minds while they were fighting some giant monster they never heard of and trying to get their sanity back.

"Fine. You know what? You can have this little secret all to yourself. See if I care. Auron and Demyx are probably done navigating, so we should get out there anyway!" Larxene threw the pillow at Axel's head and leaped off the bed to follow him into the cockpit.

In the cockpit Auron was sitting at the larger chair in front of the controls and Demyx was touching lights and menus on a holographic map. Xaldin, on the other hand, was sprawled on a huge red ottoman, trying to balance a pencil on his forehead. Captain Useless indeed.

"We're heading to an area called the Pride Lands. All I can see is some grass and a few cliffs…" Demyx said as he pushed a button with a plus sign to zoom into the new planet. "Are you sure that this place is gonna have an aeon on it?"

"I'm not saying there is, I'm saying there could be," Auron replied while steering the airship to an appropriate landing spot. "The worst that could happen is that we have to look somewhere else."

"Or we'll be wearing some hideous new wardrobe." Larxene added. Auron merely shuddered.

"Are you feeling better Larxene? You can stay on board if you want to!" Demyx suggested.

"I'm not that big of a slacker, you know! It's Axel's fault I was cooped up in that room the whole time!" she barked back.

"No, it's okay! Auron and I are going by ourselves so that you three get a break!"

"Yes!" Axel and Xaldin simultaneously cheered.

"…but then he said that if you ever try to get out of any work, he's going to slam your skulls into the wall and beat you so hard that no one would recognize you. He said it'd be for the good of Sine." Axel and Xaldin's spirits melted into despair and Auron smack Demyx over the head again.

"It's **Sin**! **Sin**! Not Sine, not Sloth, **Sin**!"

"Well maybe if you didn't hit me every time I said it wrong I wouldn't be doing it out of spite!"

_We have now arrived in: Pride Lands._

""Oh yes, almost forgot," Auron smirked as he took a small golden key out of the ignition "if you wanted to leave or wander around, well, you can't. Have fun." He grabbed his Masamune and walked with Demyx out the hatch. The three remaining Nobodies were stunned.

"Well this isn't very fair!" Axel pouted, like a spoiled eight-year-old.

"Think of it this way: we're under house arrest because we did something horrible." Xaldin said while tossing his pencil up and back.

"Oh yeah, because we've been really bad people since we've become guardians," Larxene said sarcastically as she grabbed a small can of some unknown beverage from the newfound refrigerator. "It's like we've been car bombing and eating babies 24-7! Man, if we had a nickel for every bad thing we've done as Nobodies, we'd be—what's this?"

Out of the refrigerator came a black lamp of a dull and rusty metal. It was surprisingly light and Larxene brought it to where Axel and Xaldin were sitting.

"What the hell is that?" Xaldin asked.

"I think…it's a teapot. But it feels kind of empty. Maybe it's low-cal." Larxene pondered.

"I think I've seen one of those in a book before, but I can't remember what you use them for…maybe it's some kind of healing potion bottle." Axel posed. But as he watched Larxene rub the sides of the lamp, his eyes widened and he made a motion for her to halt. "Wait a minute! Don't do that!"

"What's your problem?"

"I have seen that before! It's a cursed magic lamp owned by an evil pirate harlot! If you touch it anymore, she's going to send her army to kill you!"

Xaldin smacked his forehead in annoyance. "That is the stupidest story I have ever heard. Larxene, keep rubbing. We all know that genies come out of lamps and grant you three wishes. And I want to get out of here, so maybe we can wish for an extra key." Larxene agreed and kept rubbing the lamp. A thin stream of blue smoke came from the opening. That stream grew into a river, and that river grew into an ocean.

"Well, if all we're going to get is smoke, I better be getting high sooner or later." Larxene pouted.

She rubbed the lamp harder, like a bad itch (or an inappropriate movement, select the one of your choice). She growled, alas, nothing was happening. In her frustration she threw it against the wall. "Damn it, why isn't anything happening?"

Yeah, something's gonna happen.

The charcoal lid flew off the lamp like a torpedo, and almost hit Xaldin in the eye if he hadn't dodged. Puffs of deep gray smoke filled the room, making the Nobodies' eyes water. There was the cracking of thunder, not from the nymph but from deep in the thicket of clouds, deep in the lamp. Shadows grew behind the smoke. Gargantuan hands reached out and grabbed things invisible to their eyes, but then became axes of steel, unlike Lexaeus's old tomahawk of Aztec bright colors. Those shadows grew into blue masses with blood red and bone white horns.

And, although Xaldin wouldn't dare say it out loud, they just looked like gigantic cows.

Because they **were** gigantic cows. Ohoho, yes they were. Bovine deities from a distant world. Cackling with evil snorts and moos. This was going to be a hell of a break.

"You puny mortals!" the bull with the red horns growled. "You have disturbed our sleep!"

"But Brother, isn't that good? We've been stuck in here for years!" the other one chided.

"…yes, is that so? Then you have our thanks, mortal."

"We're not mortals! We're Nobodies!" Larxene yelled.

"Which makes you even less important. Allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Sacred,"

"And I am Minotaur!" said the one with rusty horns.

"You know, Minotaur is a lot cooler of a name than Sacred, you pansy." Axel jeered.

"Quiet you! Because the three of you have freed us from our lamp-like prison, we are willing to give you each one wish. You must think about it carefully because it will affect you forever. Now hurry up."

"Awesome, Axel thought we were going to find a hooker pirate and we get a genie! This makes up for everything!" Xaldin said. "But now we can't say to give us a key."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't doubt that Auron will smash our heads into a wall. So try to wish for something more reasonable. Here, I'll go first." He stood up and cleared his throat "I'd like to wish for—"

"Oh sorry, forgot to remind you," Sacred added. "we can't grant certain wishes. If you want to control someone, kill someone, magically have someone fall in love with you, cause a giant disaster killing millions, or break a seal placed upon you, we can't do that. It's part of a code that we have to follow."

"…damn. Now what am I supposed to wish for?" Xaldin cursed. He tapped his dreadlock head for a moment, and then the lightbulb went off in his head (and you betcha, it burst into glass shards seconds later). "I wish I had a million munny so that if we get stuck in a world I can buy all the beer and status enhancers I'll ever need." The Brothers nodded their heads and a pile of sacks of munny lay before him. He dived in like a child at his first swimming lesson.

"Of course you did, you greedy bastard," Axel said and rolled his eyes. "I'm going to wish for something more practical!"

"A hooker pirate?" Larxene asked.

"Very funny. I wish for a heart!" And sure enough, he got one. That is…a real, live, beating one that he dropped on the floor after he was finished screaming. "What is that!"

"It's a heart. A magic one. Technically we aren't supposed to give you a heart either since it directly affects one's bodily composition, which is quite dangerous. So we decided we'd let you test an old wives tale from our world. If you can digest it in the next twenty-four hours you will get the expressions and feelings of a real heart. That is, if you survive. Dig in." Minotaur explained. Axel looked like he was going to be sick.

"This is the worst love potion I have even seen. I'm not going to risk it if I'm going to die! Larxene, hurry up and get these sickos out of here."

"I don't want anything."

"What?"

"You heard me, I don't want anything!" she said with her arms crossed. There wasn't actually anything she could think of. Of course, this was a big giveaway to Axel that there was something wrong with her (because she was a sucker for free stuff) but that didn't really matter. What they needed was something to get Xemnas to back off, without killing him. What they needed was a big power boost, yeah!

What they needed was an aeon!

"Lemme ask you a question first," she said. "Do you know anything about summoning and all that?"

"Ah, the warding of Sign and the use of aeons, correct?" Minotaur replied, but soon after Sacred smacked him.

"It's Sin, not Sign!" he said, reminiscent of their swordsman.

"Uh huh. So can I wish for the two of you to cram yourselves into that lamp again so that our idiotic friend can use you as an aeon or something?"

"Hm. I think that can be arranged. Are you sure that's what you want?" The brother red pondered. "That's quite a selfless wish."

"I know, it's not usually my style. But since King Midas and the Cannibal are probably going to regret their decisions, I might as well. We don't stop anywhere long enough to get that drunk and I'd eat that heart any day. So I wish for you two to become aeons for Demyx!"

The brothers looked at each other, confused, and nodded their heads. "As you wish. We'll stay in the lamp until the grand summoner gets back." The clouds of smoke came back and Sacred and Minotaur slowly disappeared back into the lamp.

"Grand summoner my ass! He can't even say his enemy's name right!" Larxene scowled. Then she noticed Axel and Xaldin, staring at her. "What?"

"You did something nice. Did you forget to take your crazy pills today or is the savage nymph softening up?" Axel asked.

"Consider it an early Christmas present."

"But last year all you gave me for Christmas was a second-degree burn." Xaldin added.

"…then screw you all and happy birthday, Demyx."

* * *

"Come on Auron! You have to try running like this! It's awesome!"

This new world called the Pride Lands, whatever was with it, Auron hated it. It wasn't just the fact that there were too many colors (and coincidentally, any world with too many colors had some singing animals), but that he was an animal himself.

If there was **anything** more mortifying than becoming a lion, a black and white munchkin and a merman all in the same month, let alone year, he wouldn't feel like going back to the Underworld. Which there probably wasn't.

His dark maroon fur replaced his skin and he found himself on all fours. He didn't have a long and flourishing mane, just patched of darker red and his scar running through his body. Demyx on the other hand was tan with cowlicks flying about as he ran in his new body.

"I'm not going anywhere in this stupid body." Auron said coldly.

"But come on, you'll never get to feel like this again! Running around like this is so…exhilarating!" Demyx pleaded.

"…No."

"You know, you can't keep this tough guy act up for long. I know you want to run and frolic in the flowers—"

"—Does my name and the word 'frolick' ever come together?"

"Well, at least act like you're having a good time!"

"I 'm not dressed like a damned red Ronso to have a party, I'm here to help you find an aeon."

"Geez, what a killjoy." Demyx frowned, not even knowing if being a Ronso was good or bad. He walked away from his guardian. Auron was still unmoved as he left him. "Don't you have to follow me? Since you're my guardian and all?"

"Nope."

"Fine then. I guess the 'great Auron' is just too old to chase after someone. Getting a little too weary for his own good. It'd be a sham if he couldn't fulfill his duties, right?" For some idiotic reason, this got to Auron. Not because some punk kid was spouting nonsense out of his gigantic mouth, but because that punk kid was using that as an excuse to not be by himself. They had been through a lot in the past few days, and nothing on that list he made was getting done. Was Sin dead? As far as they knew, nope. Were his cohorts wreaking havoc? That was easy to answer. Was Demyx stable? Oh hell no.

"If you wanted me to go, just say it out loud," Auron sighed as he walked toward Demyx, while still getting accustomed to his extra appendages. "You didn't have to beat around the bush."

"I know, but…" the nocturne trailed off, "I thought you'd tell me to grow up."

"Trust me, that's never going to happen. But that doesn't mean you have to. I've been used to being by myself. But you, you're clingy. You need people around to feel safe. Whatever."

"Thanks," Demyx said and smile with a toothy grin "but do you have any idea where we are?"

Indeed, he didn't. They seemed to have wandered far from where the airship was landed, and were engulfed in dusty rocks and bones. But minutes later the world around them had become so different, with lush grass and bright flowers and the calm hum of water. Demyx was absolutely fascinated with this place, pawing at every blossom to taste its nectar and clawing at every rock to see what would be hiding under it. But he never made a sound. He kept quiet during his discoveries and let nature's pure silence fill the air.

And, of course, there was something wrong with that, according to Auron.

But before he could ask, Demyx spoke. "Auron, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Well, I'm really sorry about what happened earlier today, and—"

"Oh come on," Auron said, cutting him off "I couldn't care less. You got mad. It happens to everyone."

"No, listen! How am I supposed to…not get mad? I don't like having that feeling and…I know you guys get kind of scared when I do, so…"

"You really don't get it, do you? That's all it is. A feeling. **Everyone has them**. It's just a simple emotion that can get to you. Having emotions like that is proof that you're human. Besides, I would have been wrong anyway. I was going to say to use Cerberus."

…_nah, he doesn't mean that._

"Thanks. Sorry you have to repeat yourself so much."

"That's only because it won't sink into your—"

"Ooh, a waterfall!"

"…Exactly." the swordsman sighed. Demyx was captivated by the waterfall and the shallow pool of crystal-clear perfection in front of them. He had never seen anything like this in nature that made him want to stay in a world for a while, to just be entranced by its beauty. He looked down into his own reflection with his sandy fur and exaggerated blue eyes. Even he had to admit he looked ridiculous. His eyes glanced further away, and it was if he saw…fire in the water. There were little red and yellow flickers that blinded him. He looked up from the water and gasped.

"Auron…is that a lion?"

"I highly doubt it."

It was huge, a mass of rich chocolate fur set ablaze. It looked like a wolf, but with horns that were made of steel and adorned in tassels and gold bands. It growled, not at the two, but to his own reflection as it took another sip of water.

"I'm guessing that's our aeon, Demyx," Auron said.

"Yeah, but this isn't good!"

"Oh, what now?"

"If I meow at it, is it going to try to kill me?"

"…You're an idiot, Demyx." he said, with a half-smile, and followed his summoner to chase Ifrit.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Whew, finally! It took so long…and so will the next one probably, but it'll be worth the wait! Because something extra-special is going to happen in:

**Chapter 10: Origin**

This time, we'll be seeing a totally different world, and you'd never expect it! Somewhere you've seen before, but in a different before! Want a hint?

…

…

…

It's Spira! And along with finally seeing Auron's home world, we'll see a new plot, a new form of destruction, deceit, confessions, and information about one of our Nobody's past that is so shocking, it will make you slap yourself.

Seriously. It's Spira, people. And you know you want it.


	10. 10: Origins

Disclaimer: …if I actually DID own Square-Enix stuff, I wouldn't be writing fanfics, would I? Well, if the president of S-E was a sick and twisted fangirl, but I doubt that.

I wish I did more of this fic in the summer, because I update all the time when I don't have sadistic teachers and such. I think I finished my other KH fic during June or July or something, but now I've gotten to a point where my chapters are sooooo long! The last one was over 7000 words! I thought it would be 4000! **That's why this chapter is a lot shorter than I planned, with less of the plot, because if I didn't divide it up this would be 14K words long and would be posted in June.**

Oh well, I'm getting you to read. Hooray.

And also, I got a Deviant Art account now. It's just **KatSumeragi**, no ones or threes. Be sure to keep in touch if you have one too, I'd love to get to know some more people :3

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

After the short stop in the Pride Lands, the airship was in quite an uproar. Demyx and Auron were worn out from chasing a 50-foot tall fire beast around, and grew even more tired when Demyx had to talk to the brothers Sacred and Minotaur, who waited patiently for him because of Larxene's wish. Speaking of wishes, Xaldin was bragging to Auron about his pile of munny, while Axel sat at a table, contemplating whether to test out the old wives' tale, but he didn't, since it was an old wives' tale. And Larxene was being hugged by Demyx as a thank you for the new aeon. Some thank you that was.

The commotion dwindled down, and most of them went to bed, save for Auron (who was the only one trusted to navigate) and Larxene, who was recovering from a "super glomp." She was in her part of the quarters, a room with a bed and a small desk. She got it all to herself, using the logic that a damsel in distress couldn't be left alone with suspicious men who would do anything to get what they want. Although, she thought, Demyx probably still didn't understand the berserkers and the bees, Xaldin was the most asexual being she had ever met, and she was pretty sure Axel was gay. Or bi (come on, if he wasn't screwing with her life, figuratively, he was with Roxas, probably 23/7).

She left her room and made her way to the main chamber. She peeked inside the guys' bedroom, seeing Xaldin snoring, Axel falling out of bed, and Demyx, in a calm and almost…_normal_ state. Ha, normal. In fact, it looked like he was smiling! Yeah, that was Demyx alright. Lying through his teeth even when he was asleep.

She sat on one of the couches near where Auron was watching the little flashing red dots going _bleep-blip_ on the screen. "I see you're here to question me, right Larxene?" he asked, not even turning around to see her puzzled face.

"Oh, so I'm the only one that would bother you? How can you tell?"

"When you die, you can feel who's around you. Axel told me you've been acting suspicious. That's why you can't sleep. What happened?"

"Noting happened," she said in a defensive tone "It's just…have you ever thought about when it's over?"

"I don't think I understand. You're a genius when it comes to specifics."

"Ha. Funny. I mean, do you ever have this feeling that someday everything is going to go downwards? Like, sanity, freedom, the very core that keeps us going, it just breaks?"

"Are you trying to get philosophical?"

"No! I'm trying to say that lately it seems like things are getting worse. Challenges are getting harder to figure out. Nature is working against us."

"And Demyx is at the last of his nerves." Auron added. He remembered Larxene said a few other things, but they went straight through him. He was blinking, making sure that name on the map wasn't some stupid illusion. He pressed a few buttons to zoom in, and it wouldn't go away. It couldn't be…The lady in the airship asked him a simple question that was so hard to answer.

_Would you like to land in this location: Spira?_

"Hey, are you listening to anything I'm saying? This stuff is pretty deep!" Larxene yelled.

"That isn't important right now." He said coldly. The computer asked the question again. He smiled and pushed the green button with a "y" on it. This had to be some kind of sick joke. There was no way it could be so close.

How was that stupid keybearer not able to find a planet that was so close to a place where psychopathic mermaids sang about finny fun?

"Hey! Auron! What's more important than me?" Larxene asked again. "Damn it, say something!"

"Be quiet and go wake the others." he commanded. Larxene huffed and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you trying to kill us?"

"No, I'm trying to go somewhere very important."

"How important?"

"We're going back to the place I came from, along with summoning, Sin, and anything else you probably hate."

"Yes! We get to go to Spiral!" The two turned to see Demyx hopping up and down, almost bumping into the grumbling two Nobodies that were also awake. Xaldin was beginning to find something in the fridge for breakfast, while Axel was rubbing his head, wondering if he fell out of bed our not. "This whole time you've been telling us about everything that goes on there and the people and the food and we finally get to go! Is everyone there as nice as Wakka? Do we get to see more Chocobos and moogles? Do they have ice cream?" He continued his rambling questions while Auron was trying not to smack him.

"Isn't it called Spira? I remember Wakka telling me about that place!" Axel recalled. "There's a lot of beaches and has a big sports arena!"

"That's not true," Larxene said. "When the two of us were fighting over a piece of ham at dinner on your ship, he said that it was a big wasteland that worships a giant blob!"

"How about we stop sounding like a vacation brochure and settle that it has wastelands, beaches, and a good bar or two," Xaldin huffed while taking a piece of bread and a few mysterious berries for his meal. Whoever this airship engineer was, the lancer was happy that he kept his kitchens stocked.

"Yes, let's do that. We'll be landing in a few minutes, so make sure you don't do anything too stupid until then." If Yevon hadn't been such a pain in the ass, he'd be praying to the giant glob of jelly at that moment.

They had accelerated downward and were now above a large and bustling city with a few docks and airship ports. It must have been Luca, Auron though. How long had it been since he was gone? The world must have taken a turn for the better, hopefully. Cid must have really pushed using machina, with the airships and all. The ship rattled a bit when it fully landed. Demyx eagerly pressed the buttons to open the exit hatch, almost breaking them. As it opened, Demyx ran out onto the airship platform, and halted in his tracks, eyes wide open.

He was simply stunned by the ocean and how _clear _and _blue_ it was compared to any droplet that'd he'd ever drank or sweat or thrown against an enemy. In his mind, it was impossible for there to be somewhere with so many vivid colors to paint every building in a city, engulfed in lush green trees without a dull grey found in worlds that never were.

How is it that he had gone through so much of his life without this?

"Auron…this is the place you're from?" he asked with a shaky voice? The three nobodies followed the swordsman out of the ship and had the same shock.

"Man, who knew that Mister Cranky had a nice hook-up?" Axel said as he stepped onto solid ground. "This place is like a resort! How long are we gonna be staying here?"

"Not very long. If anything we're going to have to get a boat to Besaid, then we'll make our way back here, then to Djose, Kilika might not be necessary, so we'll head straight from there to Macalania, and…you probably can't repeat anything I just said, can you Demyx?" Auron turned around to see the summoner scratching his head with a stupid grin on his face. "…of course you can't. We might not be able to go to Bevelle because I might be 'wanted' there still…"

"Whoa, AND you're a fugitive? I love this place already!" Larxene cheered.

"…sure. Just get some rest and I'll try to arrange for our ride. Should we meet back here at a certain time?" Auron asked, but then realized that if these nobodies were so incompetent with assassinations and phonics, their time management skills were probably less than desirable.

"How about we'll try to be back in an hour or two, but we might be late if the Whirlwind Alcoholic has too much fun," Axel huffed, shooting glances at Xaldin.

"What? I haven't even said anything yet!" Xaldin yelled.

"Sure. A few hours. Just go."

* * *

"But it's only a little bit of munny! Why do you have to be so cheap?!" Demyx shouted at Xaldin, who wouldn't give him a few pieces to buy a popsicle from a stand in front of a staircase.

"How do you know the conversion method won't rip me off?" Xaldin asked, clutching the amount he brought with him to his chest.

"I don't know! But it's a **special** popsicle! Look, there's a bunch of weird colors, like neons, and I'm hungry!"

"Find something more useful and I'll get it for you. You don't need any more sugar than what's still in your body." Xaldin began walking up the stairs to the main shopping plaza, while Demyx pouted.

"Don't feel so bad, Demyx," Axel said. "He won't give us money either. How about we follow him and go look around? If you find something nice enough for a souvenir, we'll have Larxene steal it for you!"

"Since when am **I** the one who has to steal things?" she scowled. "And is it just me, or do we really need some new clothes? If you haven't noticed, we kind of stick out, being the only ones with all black coats on. We just scream gang members, you know?"

"Then it's official! We're going to have Larxene steal clothes for us!"

"That's not what I meant!"

The three walked up the pale stone stairs and into the hustle and bustle of Luca. The streets were spacious with shops lining every inch, the signs filled with colors you wouldn't even think to blend together. The voices of shopkeepers could be heard from outside and they talked of end-of-summer sales and one even told a customer to "get the hell out of his store." Of course, this caught Axel's attention more than anything and her motioned his companions to follow him inside. Demyx tried to read the sign, but it was in a completely different language. Maybe once Auron was done getting a boat, he could help him read the sign because he would know things like that. He was just so smart, Demyx thought.

The store was apparently a very pricy store, with walls painted with gold and carpet with gold threaded into the scarlet patterns although it just could have been shiny thread, but that would ruin the illusion of grandeur, now wouldn't it?. Dark wooden shelves were lined with bottles, statues, knick-knacks, and things that made no sense no matter what angle you saw them in or how much of a Black Truffle's head you bit off in Wonderland. Demyx began shaking the contents of the potions that read "Holy Water" and "Stamina Tonic." Sadly the tonic didn't do much, but the holy water emitted a faint white glow. He thought he might have broken it, so he put it back on the shelf. Axel was sifting through a box of sale goods, which were still way over their price range, and was complaining about how the Underdog's Secret had no real mystic value and that the Door to Tomorrow had no entrance or exit. Larxene was cursing about how something called a mythril targe wouldn't fit on here arm.

"Damn armor piece is going to tell me that my arms are too fat! You know what? Screw whatever a mythril is!" she screamed at the inanimate object.

"That's because you're not looking at the tag, stupid." Axel said as he came to assist her. "Look, we're lucky they're in English! It tells you what kind of armor a certain kind of weapon user needs. Hey, this one looks like the kind Wakka has!" he picked up one of the thick arm shields and latched it to his forearm. "Okay, so since a blitzball is kinda like a projectile, we'd need these. You'd get the yellow one because it helps with lightning and I'd get the red one so I'll have more fire power, got it memorized?"

"Can't you think of anything better to say? So what would the scrooge get?"

"Can't you read? People that use lances need armlets! The Orichalcum one looks pretty nice…and I bet Auron already has one of those…"

"Bracers. And you say I can't read."

"Can it. But there's nothing for sitar players…but a ring looks like more of his thing. Hey Demyx, which one of these sounds better to you, the Phantom Ring, th Phoenix Ring, or the Saviour Ring?" The flurry and the nymph waited for a response, but there was none. "Hellooo? Demyx, where are you?" They soon after saw what had caught Demyx's attention.

His jaw had practically lowered to the floor as he stared at what was hanging on the back wall of the shop. The small white tag on the right sleeve read "Summoner's Robe - Antique - 40,000 gil," but it wasn't the price that he was astonished at. His hand reached out and touched the main piece's soft white sleeves and the golden rings around the cuffs. It then moved to the cerulean over piece and his slender fingers traced the designs embroidered on the back. Two gold swirls branched out and twisted together to form a contorted heart. There was also a belt with layers of fabric sewn ranging from the sky's lightest blue to a sea's clearest foam green, and another silk golden tie bound them to the summoner's waist.

"I'm guessing this is something useful, right Demyx?" Larxene asked, taking a feel of the nocturne's desire. Axel tugged on her cloak sleeve and gave her a wink. "Ohoho, just because you like it so much you want me to go steal it? No way!"

Of course, Demyx didn't really want to do the dishonest thing, since he was supposed to be someone who would restore the peace and balance of the universe. But Axel was determined to get her to pull it off. "Think about it, why would we just have you steal the coat? We could get some rings and armguards, some antidotes, and look! These things don't even make sense, but they'll be useful, like a Designer Wallet or…ooh, a Gambler's Spirit!"

"You don't give a rat's ass about the coat, do you Axel?" Larxene said as she rolled her eyes.

"What can I say? Sometimes you just have to share the wealth."

"You realize that we're only supposed to be buying clothes, right?"

"But if we're not paying, why does it matter?"

"Do you have a conscience whatsoever?"

"It's on vacation." He gave her a wide grin.

"You're a horrible person."

"Look who's talking." She smacked herself on the forehead and walked over to the counter the register was on. A small brass latch was quickly unhooked and Larxene kicked open the door to a back office.

"**Get on your hands and knees, you old bastard!**"

Somehow, the fact that the man they robbed was probably over the age of 65 didn't make Axel feel guilty.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

* * *

Auron had finished speaking to the captain of a small ship called the S. S. Herra, who had agreed to take them to Besaid without a charge. It seemed like the whole "I'm a hero, I need free transportation" card still worked. He walked back to a bench near the Falcon Peak, where the summoner party had decided to meet after a few hours.

…and of course, no one was there except a pissed-off Xaldin leaning against the white stone walls.

"Please don't tell me you were thrown out of a bar," Auron sighed.

"No, the guy said my money wasn't used around here, so I couldn't pay for a pint. If I would have known that those damn genies were going to give me useless cash, then I would have asked for a feast, or my own airship so I wouldn't have to fly with you people, or Axel's pirate hooker he was rambling about!" He sat on the bench and gripped his head. "I think I still have a hangover from our days in the pirate world."

"Have you seen the other three anywhere?"

"Actually, I have." He pointed east. "They were running quickly to a place where they could change clothes. They bought me some too, but I'm going to change once they get back. They also got me a nice little armlet. It seems useless, but it looks pricy. Do you know what kind of stone it is?" Xaldin lifted his sleeve and gave the guardian a flash of the orichalcum. Auron was shocked.

"How much money did you give them?" he asked.

"None. I wouldn't even give the twerp a little for a popsicle."

"So they stole it."

"Eh, probably. You've made Demyx into a fine citizen, you know that?"

Auron's head sank. "I'm going to go find them and smack some sense into them. He resumed his search to find the nobodies.

"Can I come and watch?" The lancer got up and joined the swordsman, because he enjoyed nothing more than the ridicule of others.

* * *

"Why is it that in every world we go to I end up looking like a drunk or a whore?" Larxene asked as she came out of the public bathroom in the crowded center square of Luca. As she emerged, the young men couldn't do much but stare. They had randomly picked whatever they could find clothing wise, but now they knew they were dead meat. The olive green tank top she wore was a size too small, so it hugged her…chest area...in an ever so snug fashion. Sadly, the same went for the pair of blue shorts, held up by an bright tangerine belt, that stuck to her thighs. The only thing that seemed too big were her boots, which went up to her kneecaps, but that didn't help Axel and Demyx's situation at all.

"Well, at least you don't look like a drunk whore, or a mermaid!" Demyx said in a cheery manner with his "please don't throw kunai at my brain" face. He had put on his robe and was as content as can be. He was puzzled by why it fit so perfectly, how each belt was the right length, and how it didn't even touch the ground. Oh well, he thought, it must have been his lucky day.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you Axel?" Larxene asked accusingly.

"Trust me, if I was going to sabotage you, I wouldn't have gotten this _thing_," the flame muttered. From what they grabbed, he had gotten a pair of overalls with a black base striped with green and blue and grey pant legs. That covered a long sleeve green shirt with a collar that covered his nose and mouth. Luckily there were strings that helped him roll it down when needed. "Xaldin's gonna owe me when he sees he got the better deal. Should we have gotten Auron anything?"

"I doubt it. If he stands out from **us**, that means he's probably normal." Demyx said with a faint laugh as he put on the Saviour Ring since he took all three. "If my coat was forty thousand alone, how much do you think all of this came to?"

"Enough to get you thrown in jail for a few weeks at the least," Larxene said while attaching her Yellow Armguard.

"Or enough to get you in trouble with me," said a new voice in the conversation.

"Yeah, or that…wait…" Axel turned to see the red guardian and Xaldin standing near them. He made a loud gulping noise.

Demyx soon after took notice. "Oh crap."

"What were the three of you thinking? You want to become a summoner yet you can't even follow common rules! How much did you take?" Auron yelled.

"We didn't clean out the place, we just took some necessary things! We didn't want to stand out, and we don't have any arm gear, so—"

"That doesn't mean you had to steal it! Do you even know how to use half of the things you took?"

"Well…no…but," Demyx looked to the ground, hiding his shame by burying his head into the soft cream collar of his robe, "…I'm sorry, Auron."

"Wait, wait, don't blame him. It wasn't his idea in the first place," Axel stated. "He saw that coat and fell in love with it, so Larxene and I decided it'd be nice to get it for him. But it just so happened that the way we got it was kind of illegal. So one thing lead to another and we ended up with more than we could carry. Got it?"

Auron's anger visibly lessened, and he sighed again. "It's a good thing we're leaving soon. I swear, if we had to stay here any longer, I'd turn you in to the authorities."

"It was Larxene's idea!"

"Oh you backstabbing son of a—"

"Shut up, both of you!" Xaldin bellowed. "Give me my clothes so we can get out of here." Axel handed him a plain white pair of pants, a red tank, and a short blue jacket.

"Oh, thanks, get me the plain outfit," he said sarcastically. Axel retied the strings to his shirt and rolled the collar back up. Xaldin fell onto the pavement and started cracking up. Axel kicked him in the stomach. Auron told them both to stop acting like idiots so they wouldn't miss the boat.

* * *

"I can't believe this! The water is just so _blue_!" Demyx said cheerily as he hung over the edge of the S. S. Herra. It wasn't a very large vessel (only two cabins, a storage room, and the control room), but the upper level was mostly deck. They hadn't seen land in hours, only crystal blue ocean. And since water _was_ the summoner's element, it was expected he'd be in a good mood. "It was nice of those guys at the dock to wave us goodbye," he said.

"Yeah, except it'd be a lot nicer if the weren't police officers waving their fists at us!" Xaldin chuckled, his sides still hurting from Axel's blow. "So Auron, tell us about this new place we're sailing to."

"It's a small island called Besaid. It's where Wakka and the previous summoner Yuna are from. We'll probably catch up with a few other guardians while we're there and we'll make a stop at the temple so that Demyx can get another aeon," Auron explained as he looked out to the sea "hopefully without any 'obstacles.'"

"Obstacles? You're hanging around us." Axel said, joining everyone in staring out into the nothingness. "If you haven't figured it out, we're the biggest obstacles you'll meet."

"Ha, like we can be grouped with you," Xaldin scowled. "If it wasn't for you, everything in the Organization would have stayed nice and peachy."

"It wasn't just me, Larxene was in it more than me! I was the double agent, the good guy, got it memorized?"

"Oh, so now you're going to start blaming **me** again! Hey, Demyx, who do you think is worse, me or Axel? Demyx? Hey, Demyx!" The summoner was too hypnotized by the calm of the water and the pure presence of Spira to notice his three companions fighting. "Man, he sure loves this place. Makes you wonder if he's been here before."

"Yeah, I guess it's best if we don't—" Axel paused as he sensed the lingering smell of smoke. He felt the ashes lightly falling like deadly snow and a huge surge of power went through his body. He remembered those surges too well, when someone as spontaneous as Demyx or Xigbar decided it was a good idea to carry out the mission by setting a building ablaze. Those flames that rose from brick and shingles gave him the rush he needed to wipe out armies of Heartless and village populations over thousands. He stood up, and he saw what was causing the rain of soot on them. Demyx seemed to have noticed as well.

"Auron, something's burning on that island over there," the nocturne said in a…surprisingly calm voice. Auron turned to see the orange blaze on the horizon. There was never a change of expression on the guardian, but the others could tell that something was wrong and turned his stomach inside out. He looked to Demyx, who obviously didn't get what was going on.

Did he or did he not know that the demolished island was what remained of Besaid.

After a few moments of silence the boat docked onto the pale sandy beach. As each traveler stepped off the deck from a small ladder, none of them spoke as they watched the thick trees and grasses were engulfed in the inferno.

"You're a lot calmer than I expected," the guardian said to his summoner.

"No…it's not that…" Demyx spoke with a slight quiver in his voice. His trembling hand reached in front of him and grasped the neck of the sitar that formed in front of him. "It's just…a little humbling, y'know? To know that this isn't the only time this has happened...to know that I'm gonna have to see a lot more things like this…to know that this is what I'm gonna have to go up against…to feel Sin's presence here…is quite humbling." He plucked the strings of his instrument and played the soft and gloomy tune to call his sea monster out of the waters. The serpent's teal scales were blinding against the sun, it's deep yellow eyes pierced with fury, and it's shriek was deafening and filled the void where the sad silence laid to rest.

"Leviathan, please douse these fires and let us pass…to the rest of the island…" The aeon obeyed its master and with another screech sent waves of the crystalline water over the flames. After seconds, all that was left were blackened branches, stumps, and the thing that made Demyx's body shake the most, the corpses of villagers and beasts alike. But, because his mind was set on becoming one of the strong summoners that could fight off the evils of the universe, he set his feelings aside and walked into the charred mess that led to Besaid. Really, if he could keep his real emotions from himself for his whole nobody life, why couldn't he now?

The other four simply stared and followed as they saw the nocturne take the road inland. Xaldin had what you'd call a flashback. Being someone who was ranked in the top six positions of the Organization, he would see things that most of the other seven couldn't, like the sight of a broken nobody coming back to headquarters after an excruciating mission. And Demyx was usually that broken one, who would come back with ashes streaked on his face and eyes as blank as white pages in Naminé's sketch books. It was one of those things that made his skin crawl. Axel couldn't help but think that he saw a little bit of himself in the ninth, an emotional wreck. Except, of course, this wasn't a friend who meant the world to him, it _was_ the world. And Larxene, who already had the little secret of her own, how was she supposed to tell anyone about the Superior now?

Eventually they did reach the village area of the island. A line of lifeless and hopeless people stood in front of soldiers who loaded crates off of their large chocobos with dusty feathers. They handed out packages of band-aids, medicine, and food, while others were set aside as medics and treated the wounded. And the rest of the troops were left to dispose of the bodies that piled up during the attack, and the sheer image of the dead bodies made Demyx want to heave.

"Our plans are changing, obviously. I'm going to try to find an acquaintance, Demyx, you're coming with me. The rest of you ask if these crusaders need any help." Auron took Demyx by his wrist and began to search the chaotic scene for his familiar face. Luckily, that face found him first.

"Auron!" the woman's voice said in surprise. They both turned to see her leather-clad dress torn in places and her velvet black hair held together by two broken chopsticks. Smeared lipstick was across her speechless mouth and she had to blink twice to comprehend.

"Lulu, how did—" Auron began, but was cut off right away.

"Well, obviously nothing is gone for good. And then again, some things are, like you." Demyx even felt the bite in her comment.

"My presence wouldn't have stopped this. Be rational. Did Wakka contact you?"

"Yes, he did. I got a letter from him while during his stay in the Thunder Plains. He said he was looking for Tidus. Kimahri went back to Mount Gagazet, Rikku is with her father, and you're dead. That left me as the only one to protect this village and we get hit with something like Sin. And will you just tell me who that is that's clinging to your coat? I don't have enough time to beat around the bush." The black mage began to move in another direction and picked up pieces of wood and threw them into an existing rubble pile.

"This, is the solution to our problems," Auron explained while forcing Demyx off of his scarlet jacket.

Lulu glanced back and took a good hard look at the summoner. "Of course he is. Isn't he one of Issaru's brothers?"

"Actually, he's not even from Spira. He's a summoner."

The witch glanced back again. "Do you think that's funny?"

"No, watch. Demyx!"

"Hm?" he said, coming back to reality from his horrid daydreams.

"Do something to make yourself look smart."

"Okay!" He made his sitar appear again and took a second to think of which tune to play. The lightbulb went on and he strummed the bright and bubbly song of his mog and chocobo, Artemicion and Choco.

"Ne! Hello, master Demyx! What do you want us to look for, na?" Artemicion asked, obviously not noticing his un-cheery surroundings and making a horrible mistake by calling Demyx a master.

"Kweh!" added Choco, which probably meant "hello."

"Could you find all of the aeons that I haven't prayed to yet, na?" Demyx asked, picking up the ridiculous "na" from the last sentence. Lulu had now taken interest in the boy. There was never an aeon like the striped furry moogle and the chocobo on Spira, so how could he have obtained it?

"Sure, ne! It'll take a second, ne!" Artemicion then to the time to concentrate on the auras around him. "Ah! There's a lot of them here, master Demyx! But you'll only need five of them, na-ah!"

"Eh? Why's that?"

"Because of fate, ne! You'll get tired if you get them all here, so you'll fin them in other places!"

"Which aeons is he going to obtain here?" Lulu asked the mog.

"Hm, well Lady Lulu, Valefor, Ixion, Shiva, Yojimbo, and Anima, ne! Master Demyx is going to get a lot stronger here, ne!" Lulu was visibly shocked and looked to Auron.

"Thank you, Artemicion! You can go now, ne!" Demyx dismissed.

"Yay! We'll see you later, na!"

"Kweh!" And with that, the purple mog and the chocobo vanished. The summoner released his sitar and turned to his guardian and the mage.

"How are we supposed to find five aeons if we have to help these people? That's going to be impossible! Should we split up or something? Do any of these aeons make it so you can be in two places at once? But wait, I don't know if leaving the others alone is going to help any! Auron, what do you—"

"We're going to leave in two days." Auron declared, cutting off the musician's tangent. "The Besaid temple was left relatively undamaged, so we'll have you pray to Valefor there. Otherwise, you'll need to get some rest."

"But I want to help! It's my responsibility!"

"Actually, I don't think you'll have time to rest," said Lulu. "Tell me, do you know how to perform a sending?"

Auron froze.

If there was one thing that Demyx wasn't ready to do, it was to send.

"No, what's that?"

"It's a ceremony to send the souls of the dead into the Farplane, the resting place."

Demyx gulped. "L-like a funeral, right? I th-think I can do that…"

"Good, then we'll teach you the Hymn of the Fayth and prepare the bodies."

_Bodies?_

Demyx's head began to spin. He latched on to the nearest solid object, which happened to be Auron's arm. He blinked to keep his vision in focus and nodded his head. "Y-yeah, I can do that, if you need me to…"

Lulu, looked to Auron with concern. "Are you expecting that Auron is going with you?"

"Well…k-kinda, since I've never really d-done this before, and I'm not that good around the…d-dead…"

Auron sighed, knowing that what he was going to say would crush the musician's soul.

"Demyx, I'm already dead. If I stay with you as you perform the sending, you'll send me too. I'm sorry if you didn't realize this, but you might have to go alone."

He felt trembling fingers dig deeper into his arm and heard little gasps for air from Demyx. He wouldn't look at him eye to eye, so he was probably already starting to cry. For a while there was only silence as the guardians waited for his response.

"…Okay. I'll still do it." Demyx said without a single stutter.

"Are you sure? You're not in the best condition."

"No! I want to get stronger! I don't want to be the person that can't handle the worst of things, or else how am I supposed to save everyone? I want…" He released his grip off Auron's arm. "to be able to do this alone." Lulu motioned for him to follow. As he left, Demyx lifted his head to look to Auron. His aquamarine eyes were free of tears, but there was something else missing. There was no laughter, no happiness, no confidence, no real spark. The sad thing was, Auron couldn't help but feel like those blank eyes were going to show up again.

* * *

"_Ieyui, Nobomenu…"_

He began to strum the notes of the hymn that Lulu had played for him earlier. He heard the notes were slightly out of tune, but no one else would notice the music's flaws like he would. Why was he so nervous anyway? Maybe this wasn't going to work. Maybe he was an exception.

He would kill to be that exception.

"_Renmiri, Yojuyogo…_"

He saw out the corner of his eye glowing yellow balls rise from the piles of corpses. They were probably the pyreflies that Lulu had mentioned. The reverse storm of souls floated into the sky, with such a pretty light. How could something so beautiful represent something so dark as death?

How is it that he was still holding on?

"_Hasatekanae_…"

He couldn't take it much longer. If he was somewhere completely different, the dirge would have been just another sad song, another sad song that he's been playing throughout his life. But the bodies, why did he have to be so close? And why was it that the only one out of the thousands of departed spirits he needed that moment was on the S. S. Herra, far from where he felt his nonexistent heart was going to burst?

Why did that vacant hole in his chest hurt so much?

"_Kutamae_"

Demyx heard footsteps thumping towards him and Lulu, accompanied with shrill voices yelling.

"If we would have known earlier, we would have captured you right when we saw you enter the village, Myde."

The crusaders who had been helping the wounded and the broken down repair their lives after Sin's attack were now holding him to the points of their spears. Lulu, who was at Demyx's side in the first place, was now being yanked away from him by a male soldier. She tried to use the Onion Knight buried in her arms to cast a spell of poison onto him, but was pushed to the side before she could finish.

"What is it that you want with him?" the mage asked in a demanding tone.

"We don't wish to hurt you, Lulu, but it seems like some things aren't gone forever," he said back. "And if you say you don't wish to come with us, we'll have something that will change his mind. Men, bring the others!"

_Others?_

As he still refused to turn around, Demyx heard more footsteps and something faintly scraping against the sandy earth.

"Two of your friends who were helping us with the rebuilding had overheard our conversation on you and your past, and they haven't gotten anywhere by interfering, right? Luckily, this little lady had been working with the medics and caught on too late. Too bad, she was quite the helper, right?"

_No…this isn't—_

"Demyx, don't listen to these guys!" Larxene's rasping voice called out. "They want something with you, and it's probably for the wrong reason! Forget about us, just keep fighting Sin! We can figure this out on our own!"

"We won't hinder your pilgrimage, Demyx, we just want to help bring out the best of your ability. You want to get stronger, don't you?" The soldier's words were too persuasive. He wanted more than anything to be strong, to fight Sin, to save his…friends, but…

Demyx slowly turned his heaving body to the crusaders to see the Flurry of Dancing Flames and the Whirlwind Lancer knocked unconscious, their waists down resting on the ground. Larxene had a look of…almost sympathy on her face while the soldier's thick and muscular arm was wrapped around her neck. And through all of this, he could only find himself still crying, tears streaking down his cheeks and splattered onto the collar of his beloved summoner's robe.

"Who's Myde?" was the only thing he could muster up without completely weeping.

"Myde is who you used to be, and the maesters of Yevon had sensed you enter our world. They feel that it's only necessary to bring you back to your whole self to complete your mission."

"Demyx, you idiot, don't—!" Larxene tried to say before the soldier covered her mouth.

"It's only for the best interests of the world, right?"

"Would Myde cry after a sending?" Demyx asked again.

"Once you become him, never again."

He dropped his sitar to his side. A loud twanging sound emerged and a string snapped. The rest of it fell to darkness.

"I'll do whatever it takes. Just…please, leave the rest of them out of it."

He stared that soldier in the eyes. All the soldier could see was nothingness. His capture was indeed, too easy. The same thoughts just kept running through his head, each conflicting the other.

_I need to get stronger._

_These guys can't be trusted._

_Larxene and the others can't get into this._

_Please, Auron, save me._

* * *

Out on the ocean, the dock of the S. S. Herra rocked aggressively. He looked off the rail to where the fire once rampaged on.

"What could be taking Demyx so long?" Auron said to himself. "If he thinks he can handle his first sending on his own, then he's crazy."

Or maybe he was just expecting too little of him, the swordsman though again. Whatever the reason, he just hoped Demyx's mental composure was fine at the moment.

* * *

_Please, Auron, save me. _

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Confused? Don't worry, so am I.

Like I said, much more will be explained in the next chapter…

**Chapter 11: The Somebody, The Nobody, and The Summoner**

With Demyx giving himself to what seems to be the good guy, how will the maesters of Yevon try to transform him back into his Somebody? If anything, is his Somebody really a person he'd want to be? Will the crusaders keep their promise on leaving the disadvantaged Axel, Larxene and Xaldin alone? And with the Nobodies and Auron completely oblivious about Demyx's location, how will they find him? And who was Demyx really in his past? What happened to Spira in the past few years anyway? Questions will be answered as soon as possible!

PS: If you want spoilers, I guess I'll give to you if you ask. And this Spira arc is going to be a long one. Over 4 chapters worth. Hooray :3.


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